Twenty-one people who allegedly helped more than 1,000 foreign nationals fraudulently obtain student visas were arrested this morning by federal agents in a nationwide sweep. 
 
 The foreign nationals are now working at companies throughout the United States illegally. 
 
 This was a "pay to stay" scheme, said U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Paul J. Fishman. 
 
 The arrests represent the conclusion of a three-year investigation into the exploitation-for-profit of non-immigrant student visas. Arrests were made in New York, Washington, New Jersey and Virginia by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). 
 
 To help catch the alleged criminals, HSI federal agents set up a fake university, called the University of Northern New Jersey (UNNJ), that provided work authorization for hundreds of "students." 
 
 Obtained by ABC News. 
 
 Many of 21 people charged operated recruiting companies for purported international students, according to the U.S. attorney. They were arrested for their involvement in an alleged scheme to enroll foreign nationals at UNNJ, a fake for-profit college located in Cranford, New Jersey. The alleged scammers and the foreign nationals who obtained visas believed the school was real. 
 
 However, it was created in September 2013 by HSI federal agents, complete with a Facebook page and website. It never had classes, only offices staffed by federal agents who posed as school administrators. 
 
 "The University of Northern New Jersey was just another stop on the pay-to-stay tour," said Fishman. 
 
 The people accused in the scheme, enabled approximately 1,076 foreign individuals, primary from China and India, to fraudulently maintain their nonimmigrant status in the U.S. on "the false pretense that they continued to participate in full courses of study at the UNNJ", according to the U.S. attorney. 
 
 They also allegedly also used UNNJ to fraudulently obtain work authorization and work visas for hundreds of their clients. The 21 people were charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud, conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit and other offenses. 
 
 "They did not know, nor did they care one wit, as to the students who were coming in what purposes they came into the country for and if they had any ill intent," said ICE Director Sarah Saldaña at Tuesday's press conference. 
 
 Undercover agents told each defendant in conversations that were secretly recorded that the university was a sham devised to get immigration status for foreign nationals, said Fishman. 
 
 The so-called students will now be placed under administrative arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for their alleged complicity in the scheme. They will be placed into immigration proceedings and likely deported. 
 
 Those who bought the phony papers work for the U.S. military, as well as Facebook, Google and other well-known companies, according to a law enforcement official. The buyers were "fully aware" they were acquiring fraudulent documents, according to a source familiar with the investigation. 
 
 The companies are not implicated in the scheme and were unaware of the fraud. They are just finding out today that their employees allegedly used fake documents. 
 
 The case exposes a potential route to the United States for would-be terrorists and touches the political controversy over the H-1B visa, a nonimmigrant visa that allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. 
 
 "‘Pay to Stay’ schemes not only damage our perception of legitimate student and foreign worker visa programs, they also pose a very real threat to national security," Fishman said. 
 
 The arrests come a year and a half after an ABC News investigation found that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had lost track of more than 6,000 foreign nationals who entered the U.S. on student visas. The investigation also found dozens of schools suspected of being no more than visa mills for foreigners. 
 
 Tightening up the student visa program was one of the major recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission, after it was determined that the hijacker who flew Flight 77 into the Pentagon, Hani Hanjour, had entered the U.S. on a student visa but never showed up for school. 
 
 -Lee Ferran contributed to this story. ||||| NEWARK — More than 1,000 students enrolled in the University of Northern New Jersey. 
 
 Never heard of it? 
 
 At least 21 people who allegedly took payments to help foreign nationals enroll in the "university" did, and they were charged Tuesday with committing visa fraud, conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit and other charges, federal prosecutors announced. 
 
 The university was housed in a building in Cranford and even had a Facebook page, but in truth was set up as a "Pay to Stay" sting by a team of federal agencies. UNNJ held no classes and had no teachers. 
 
 The defendants' alleged scheme involved recruiting foreign nationals, mostly Chinese and Indian nationals, to pay in various ways for student visas that got them into the United States. The federal agents created diplomas and other school documents to give the "students" records to show employers and immigration officials, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. 
 
 Fishman declined to say how federal agents identified the alleged recruiters, but said that once the word got out three years ago that the fake college was open, business was brisk. 
 
 Recruiters "descended on the school, clamoring to enroll their foreign student clients," Fishman said. "The University of Northern New Jersey was just another stop on the pay-to-play tour." 
 
 Woman arrested in visa fraud scheme 
 
 The recruiters asked for and received phony degrees, transcripts, parking passes, and attendance records — signed in inks of varying colors — thinking they would trick immigration authorities, he said. 
 
 Under proper settings, a college or university certifies that it has accepted a foreign national as a student, who then can obtain a student visa. A student visa allows a student to stay in the United States while working toward a degree. 
 
 In the sting operation, brokers or recruiters from New Jersey, California, Illinois, Georgia and New York helped 1,076 individuals get student visas, even though they had no intention of going to school. 
 
 Some of the defendants allegedly used the school to help clients obtain work visas, prosecutors said. 
 
 The students paid thousands of dollars to the brokers or directly to the school, which kicked back money to the brokers, Fishman said. 
 
 Sarah Saldana, director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the alleged scheme not only compromised the integrity of the visa program, it also threatened national security. 
 
 The recruiters and brokers did not care "one whit" about the individuals' background and whether they had evil intent toward the United States, she said aft a press conference in Newark. 
 
 "While the United States fully supports international education, we will vigorously investigate those who seek to exploit the U.S. immigration system," she said. "As a result of this operation, (Homeland Security) special agents have successfully identified and closed a gap in the student visa system and have arrested 21 individuals alleged to be amongst the system's most egregious violators." 
 
 The 1,076 individuals had their student visas revoked and are being investigated by immigration officials, Saldana said. Where appropriate, they will be administratively arrested and placed into removal proceedings, prosecutors said. 
 
 The charges of conspiracy to commit visa fraud and making a false statement each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, they said. The charges of conspiracy to harbor aliens for profit and fraud involving special work visas each carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 
 
 The 21 individuals charged today include residents of Franklin Park, Hackensack, Hillsborough, North Brunswick, Somerset and Avenel, according to Fishman's office. 
 
 Most of the defendants are scheduled to make their initial appearance today in federal court in Newark. 
 
 Tim Darragh may be reached at tdarragh@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @timdarragh. Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| NEWARK — On the surface, the University of Northern New Jersey seemed legitimate. It had a website, with a seal featuring the Latin words “Humanus, Scientia, Integritas,” a list of business-oriented degrees offered and a promise of “an exceptional educational experience.” 
 
 It was so exceptional it did not exist. 
 
 Instead, the university was a fake, set up by the Homeland Security Department as part of a sting operation to ensnare criminals involved in student visa fraud. 
 
 On Tuesday, that operation resulted in the arrests of 21 people, the United States attorney for New Jersey, Paul J. Fishman, and Sarah R. Saldaña, the director of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced at a news conference here. 
 
 The people arrested were brokers who recruited foreign students who were mainly from China and India to an institution that they knew would not have real classes. The brokers, working with people posing as university officials, then charged the students in a scheme that allowed them to maintain their student visas and stay in the country, the government said. Some brokers also arranged, illegally, for work visas and jobs, the authorities said. Some of these so-called students, according to a law enforcement official, even used the fraudulent visas to get jobs at high-profile companies.
– The University of Northern New Jersey looked like any other school: It had a website, a Facebook page, and a crest. Unlike other colleges, however, it was staffed entirely by Homeland Security agents. The Department of Justice announced this week it had indicted 21 people for visa fraud in a sting operation that centered on the fake school, invented in 2013 as a tool to catch those seeking fraudulent student visas to remain in the US. Agents say brokers purchased forged paperwork from UNNJ to obtain visas for 1,076 clients, knowing they would never attend any classes. Some acquired work visas, allowing clients to get jobs at Apple, Facebook, Morgan Stanley, and join the US Army, per ABC News and the New York Times. In exchange, the brokers took home thousands of dollars in commissions. "The University of Northern New Jersey was just another stop on the pay-to-stay tour," says the US attorney for New Jersey. Authorities describe the defendants are mainly naturalized citizens and legal permanent residents. One Chinese national allegedly enrolled dozens of students at UNNJ. "You know that none of these people are going to class?" an undercover agent asked him, per BuzzFeed. "We've been doing this for years, no worries," he replied, according to an indictment. An immigration rep says the 1,076 "students"—many of whom are Indian or Chinese—have had their visas revoked and will be investigated by immigration authorities, reports NJ.com.