Should the J-1 Visa Program Allowing Foreign College Students to Work Here be Abolished [POLL]

Fact: it’s getting harder and harder for American youths to find a summer job.

Part of it may have to do with their concentrating on other pursuits; and part is due to the perception that they’re not as industrious at their foreign counterparts.

That’s why many employers rely on the J-1 Visa program, which, while primarily set up as a cultural exchange, has managed to fulfill the needs of employers during the summer months and beyond.

According to this report:

Local companies said they would have trouble filling pre-season and post-season jobs without these workers.

One employer said, “The American student is so focused on resume-building. They often leave before they say they will, especially if they play sports and need to attend camp,” “The students in the J-1 visa program are happy to be here. And they have a strong work ethic.”

The chief benefit for employers is getting access to a labor pool of motivated college students. Along with a weekly paycheck, the program offers intangible benefits, employees said.

Ethan Chai, 26, an economics student from Singapore, learned how to make sangria from co-workers at Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, where he is working for his third summer.
By working at Morey’s, he made money to travel across the country, visiting Boston, Chicago, Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

However, that’s made it increasing harder for American students.

Many are having to rely on connections and for those that don’t have the “connections” it’s harder still.

According to a secondary source:

Fewer than three in 10 American teenagers have summer jobs, and upper-income teens are three times as likely as poor teens to find employment.

With fewer jobs available, to get hired, teenagers often have to rely on connections, which are often more abundant among middle-class suburban families than the urban poor.

Kyle Greschak, 16, found his first job this summer at a frozen-yogurt shop in Ewing through a friend whose mother owned the place.

“A lot of my friends try to get jobs, and college kids and people older than they are get the job first,” Greschak said. “Or, if they get the job, they only work a couple hours a week and they don’t make that much.”

The drop in teen employment is partly due to a cultural shift, policymakers note.

More youths are spending summer months in school, at music or learning camps or in other activities geared for college.

So, with that in mind, if the American youth is already “behind the 8-ball,” should they be given a leg up and not have to compete with their foreign counterparts?

In other words, should the J-1 Visa program be rescinded?

Or, are they learning a valuable life lesson here? It will be the lesson of  going out into the job force will take an enormous amount of fortitude to compete for each and every job that's out there!

Let's put it this way. If you're an employer, who are you going to hire first. It would be great to be "patriotic" and hire American first; but in the end, you're going to want the person who'd be the most industrious!