That's Enough Culture for Now - Jessica Vaughan
April 11, 2009
By Jessica Vaughan
Although billed as a cultural exchange program, the Summer Work Travel visa has become a way for many U.S. employers to get cheap labor from abroad. Until several years ago, there was little oversight of the employers and much abuse of the young workers (see my comments on the subject). Long work hours, low pay, and substandard housing were common in many programs. The cultural exchange component might consist of a 4th of July cook-out and a trip to Walmart. The nominal sponsors, often well-known non-profits such as the YMCA, received sizeable payments from third-party employers to enable them to hire workers under the guise of a cultural exchange, and paid no attention to how visitors were treated. Many of the workers failed to return home at the end of the summer; a GAO report found overstay rates as high as 25% in some programs.
Center for Immigration Studies Blog
This entry is in the following archive(s): Jessica Vaughan | Opinion
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