The Department of Homeland Security has decided not to file human labor trafficking charges against Anza-based Olivet University, allowing a civil lawsuit by former students who lodged the complaints to move forward
Under an agreement by attorneys for both sides, the lawsuit had been on hold since April 2024, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation into the private Christian college by Homeland Security Investigations, a division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to a status report on the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Sept. 30, in U.S. District Court in Riverside, an HSI agent informed the parties in the litigation that “no charges are going to be filed against Olivet University or anyone affiliated with Olivet University that arise out of or are related to plaintiff’s claims. There are no investigations against any defendant that relates to plaintiff’s claims in this case that would require a stay.”
Four former Olivet students alleged in the lawsuit, filed in Riverside County Superior Court in September 2023 and subsequently transferred to federal court, that they were forced by university officials to work, without pay, after coming overseas to attend the school on full scholarships. Olivet denies the allegations.
It was unclear if the government’s decision not to proceed with any labor trafficking charges against Olivet brings an end to its probe, or if other criminal allegations are under investigation. Olivet maintains it was unaware of any formal federal investigation, and denies having engaged in any illegal conduct.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Thursday, Oct. 2, would “neither confirm nor deny” the existence of any ongoing investigation.
Olivet’s legal issues came into public view in April 2021, when special agents with Homeland Security Investigations and Riverside County sheriff’s and district attorney’s investigators served a search warrant at the university. The warrant remains under seal, and the government has not disclosed any additional information since the raid.
Attorney Darren Harris, who is representing former students Dawin Liranzo Galan, Roland Broccko, Minerva Ruiz and Rebecca Singh in the lawsuit, said attorneys on both sides informed the court on Wednesday that they will file a motion next week to lift the stay so the lawsuit can proceed.
Harris said the fact that the government will not pursue charges against Olivet for labor trafficking has no bearing on the lawsuit. “The standard for civil cases is much lower than that in a criminal case,” he said.
Representatives at Olivet did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
On Tuesday, Sept. 30, Olivet University President Jonathan Park told The Christian Post that the human labor trafficking allegations were part of a sophisticated T visa scheme by the former students.
“This decision affirms what we have consistently maintained: the accusations against our institution were false and unfounded,” Park told the Post. He said the real problem was not Olivet, but “those individuals who deliberately lied about our school, manipulated the U.S. visa system, and colluded with certain media outlets to spread false narratives.”
T nonimmigrant status is a temporary immigration benefit that allows certain victims of “a severe form of trafficking” to remain in the United States for an initial period of up to four years for cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation and prosecution of human trafficking cases.
HSI confirmed last year it was investigating allegations of human labor trafficking, and said the investigation was triggered, in part, by a 911 call made by Singh in 2018 claiming she was being held at Olivet against her will.
University officials also deny Singh’s allegations, maintaining she was never under duress, was allowed to leave the campus voluntarily after making the 911 call, and that Olivet even arranged for a staff member to drive her to the airport, which a sheriff’s 911 dispatch report confirms.
Olivet claims all the plaintiffs were seeking permanent visas to reside in the U.S., which was a motivating factor behind the lawsuit. None of them intended to pursue missions or ministry work, as do many of Olivet’s students, and instead applied to the university as a means of entering the United States for other purposes. Additionally, Olivet claims the former students’ allegations were contradicted by a “preponderance of statements from other students.”
Olivet purchased its 1,000-acre property in Anza, situated in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Temecula, and established its headquarters there in 2014. It also has satellite campuses in Los Angeles and Mill Valley, as well as in Texas, Florida, Missouri, Indiana, Tennessee and Washington, D.C.
The university has grappled with a series of setbacks in recent years.
Last December, an administrative law judge revoked Olivet’s license for failing to adhere to state educational guidelines and mandates, and ordered the university to stop enrolling new students. The university, however, remains accredited and continues to operate under a religious exemption.
But on June 2, Olivet’s accreditor, the Association of Biblical Higher Education, placed the university on a show-cause order giving it until Nov. 15 to provide evidence showing why it should remain accredited after the ABHE’s Commission on Accreditation determined the university had failed to comply with several of its accreditation standards.
The ABHE also has requested that Olivet submit documented proof of its financial integrity, particularly regarding how funds flow between the institution and the individuals, businesses and organizations with which it partners or is associated.
Despite the setbacks, Olivet secured a victory on June 24, when the Riverside County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the university’s application to rezone 958 of its 1,000 acres in Anza to expand its campus. The proposal received widespread support from more than 50 local community members and business owners who wrote letters to Riverside County planners and supervisors.
While a few community members opposed Olivet’s proposal, either concerned it would have no sustainable benefit or was more about real estate speculation, the Olivet supporters who sent letters to the board lauded the university’s engagement and outreach efforts in the working-class High Desert community of roughly 1,800.