Foreign students say visa program abused

[alp227]

Source: Wash. post

For years, it has been touted as a form of vacation diplomacy: a U.S. government program that selects college students from across the globe to come work at beach resorts, amusement parks and other seasonal jobs. In the process, the visitors are expected to imbibe American culture, practice English and take home fond memories.

But in August, students complained that their work conditions were closer to a sweatshop than a summer break, sparking demands for government intervention and a firestorm of bad publicity that federal officials are trying to tamp down.

More than 300 young foreigners, packing candy in a warehouse in Pennsylvania, staged a high-profile walkout and protest against their employers and the State Department, which oversees the program. They alleged that they had been worked to exhaustion and had met few Americans except supervisors who pressed them to pack faster and threatened to have them deported.

“My parents agreed to send me because it would be a way to improve my English,” wrote Aysel Kiyaker, a student from Turkey who paid $3,000 for her airfare and work visa. “They told us the job would be easy and fun and they would have pizza parties for us.”

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/national-security/foreign-students-say-visa-program-abused/2011/10/26/gIQAbsUESM_singlePage.html

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How about tying work visa quotas to the unemployment rate so that US citizens get first priority for these jobs. Honestly, many US citizens living in Penn. could've worked there instead with protection of labor laws.

[SoCalNative]

1. Yeah

but the company wouldn't have gotten all of those great tax breaks and more from the government for actually hiring Americans to fill the jobs!

[alp227]

2. you mean hiring foreign labor means tax breaks? then end corporate welfare! nt

[OhioChick]

3. Fully agree with your comment n/t

[go west young man]

4. It once was a good program with good intentions

but the program and the students have been exploited by greedy corporate bosses. In the early 2000's I met quite a few Eastern Europeans who were
working at summer resorts and had nice tours but if you look at this case you have Hershey using them on an assembly line to take advantage of cheap
labor. Nothing more. Hershey should be ashamed. To other posters I would say don't blame the victims just because "W" tanked the economy.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

5. This Hershey case was a total fraud and a matter for criminal investigation

This employment situation was 100% ineligible for the J1 Visa. Whoever approved this was drunk, stoned, unconscious, dead or being sucked off under their desk.

There are no less than three obvious violations here:

1. Employment Agencies are dead stop ineligible to sponsor J1 visas. There are no exceptions or nuances.
2. J1 visa sponsors must directly control the place of business where the J1 holder will be employed. Some logistics company using temps can't satisfy this requirement.
3. The sponsor is required to make substantial disclosures to the applicant which clearly were not made here.

I can think of half a dozen more undocumented but likely violations as well.