Work visa abused

THE ISSUE

The State Department is considering reforms to a foreign student exchange program that has funneled everyone from strippers to underpaid factory workers into the United States.

When it comes to the federal government’s failure to control U.S. borders, regulate domestic businesses that hire foreign workers and govern student exchange programs, the frustration of many Americans is easy to understand.

Decades of easy access through the Mexican border has led to more than 11 million people living illegally in the United States.

Now the State Department is reeling from a controversy involving another form of fast and loose entry into the country. Businesses and even the mob are accused of taking advantage of a foreign exchange program that brings about 100,000 people into the country every year.

The J-1 Summer Work Travel visa program began in 1963 to let college students from other countries spend their summer break living, working and traveling in the United States.

In 2010, The Associated Press uncovered many abuses, which included slave-like living and working conditions. One woman said she was beaten, raped and forced to work as a nude dancer in Detroit after being promised a job as a waitress in Virginia.

More recently, authorities said the Gambino and Bonnano crime families, along with the Russian mob, were involved in bringing women here to work as strippers.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has ordered a review of the program. According to AP, the State Department is considering reforms that would limit and change the types of jobs students can have, and strengthen “the cultural aspects of the program to ensure that the objective of the program — positive exposure to the United States — is accomplished.”

The State Department has temporarily stopped accepting new sponsors and is limiting the number of future participants to this year’s level. It also is requiring more oversight of sponsors.

The summer work visa can provide a positive experience for both the foreign students and the domestic sponsors. But, the federal government has a responsibility to oversee the program and ensure that sponsors are not exploiting the students as cheap labor or for illicit purposes.

Although problems with the student exchange program have less impact than illegal immigration, they serve as yet more evidence the U.S. government has failed to watch out for both the American people and foreign workers.

7 Dec 2011

http://www.timesdaily.com/stories/Work-visa-abused,185150