Students who enrolled at a fake university set up by federal immigration agents have the right to sue the U.S. government, a federal court has ruled.

A decision last week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit means that the hundreds of students who paid tuition at the University of Farmington in Farmington Hills — created by undercover agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have a legal basis to continue pursuing their claims in court.

In 2020, a lawsuit was filed against the U.S. government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims by attorneys on behalf of Teja Ravi and other students enrolled at the University of Farmington, which no longer exists after ICE shut it down in 2019 andarrested at least 250 of its students. The suit said the U.S. breached their contract with the students by essentially stealing their tuition money, about $11,000 a year for each student. They are asking for their money back and other punitive damages. But the legal claim was dismissed on technical grounds in 2022 by the Claims Court, which said the case lacked jurisdiction. Three judges with the appeals court overturned that decision on June 25 and remanded the case back to the Claims Court.