Summer Jobs Will Remain Elusive for American Youth; Blame the J-1 Visa

By Joe Guzzardi
March 26, 2014

For college students who hope to land a summer job, bad news. Many of those jobs, especially in beach resorts or other exclusive destinations, will again be given to overseas workers visiting on what is disingenuously called the Summer Work Travel (SWT) program. SWT is one of many so-called cultural Exchange Visitor programs which the State Department inefficiently monitors under the J-1 visa’s auspices.

Two years ago, the SWT was at the center of a nationally publicized scandal.  More than a thousand unsuspecting foreign students, most of them from Asia and Eastern Europe, partook in the controversial exchange program that ultimately landed them in a Palmyra, Pa., Hershey Company warehouse where they boxed candies. Many students eventually went on strike, claiming they worked under harsh conditions for illegally low pay and in violation of federal safety code regulations. 

Students said their experience had little to do with the touted exposure to American culture, but instead consisted of lifting 50-pound boxes under the threat of deportation. Most correctly complained they’d paid exorbitant sums to participate including their travel and visa expenses. The students eventually won $200,000 in back wages from the Labor Department. Since intermediary sponsors or agents hired the students Hershey, although it perpetrated the offenses, wasn’t named in the suit. 

After the Hershey abuse became public knowledge, the State Department promised regulatory changes. Deputy Assistant Secretary Robin Lerner added additional personnel to monitor and enforce compliance with J-1 terms and conditions. But as it turned out the new staff only oversees the J-1 sponsors and not the thousands of employers like Hershey who profit from underpaying employees.  

A new Economic Policy Institute exposé revealed that Panama City, Florida is still one of many hotbeds of J-1 mistreatment. In the words of local Department of Homeland Security agent Scott Springer, J-1 visa students are “among the most exploited on the beach” and could be tied to human trafficking rings. 

Despite the J-1’s obvious use as a cheap labor vehicle, State Department officials insist that its fundamental intention is for cultural exchange and not work-related purposes. But skeptics challenge cultural exchange’s tangible value. The relationship between cleaning motel rooms for less than minimum wage and building lasting good will toward the U.S. is hard to make.

Ignored in the valid debate about whether State should suspend SWT until its irregularities are weeded out or whether Congress should cancel it altogether is its adverse effect on job-seeking American kids. In 2012, 86,518 student workers participated in SWT, the largest within the Exchange Visitor program. J-1 visas have no statutory cap.

Meanwhile American youths can’t find work. Through December, the effective U-6 unemployment rate for 18-29-year-olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for a job, is 15.9 percent. The U-6 rate for 18-29-year-old African-Americans, Hispanics and women is, respectively, 24, 17 and 14 percent. The declining labor force involvement has created an additional 1.9 million unemployed young Americans.

Assuming they were paid fair wages, American kids would eagerly snap up those hotel, restaurant and manufacturing jobs. Instead, they’re going to vulnerable overseas youngsters under the cultural exchange umbrella.

Unscrupulous employers make out great while the susceptible foreign-born and jobless Americans lose, big time.

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Joe Guzzardi is a Californians for Population Stabilization Senior Writing Fellow whose columns have been syndicated since 1987. Contact him at [email protected]