About J-1
The J-1 nonimmigrant visa was designed as an educational and cultural exchange visitor program. While not originally intended to import foreign labor, it is routinely used as a temporary work visa.
J-1 workers come to the U.S. from all over the world, with most coming from European nations. The number of individuals in “active J-1 status” at any one time fluctuates between approximately 160,000 and 220,000 depending on the time of year.
Reasons why an employer may choose to hire J-1 exchange visitors:
While the J-1 visa’s stated purpose is to promote cultural exchange and understanding, there are reasons many U.S. employers choose to employ J-1 visa holders over other temporary foreign workers or U.S. employees.
Unlike other visa programs, there is no labor market certification test required and no pre-approval needed from USCIS or USDOL. There are also no limits on the number of J-1 visas that can be approved each year. Employers are not required to ensure that J-1 employees pay no recruitment fees, provide housing (except for au pairs), or reimburse travel costs. The employer tax burden is much less when employing J-1 workers than other types of employees. There is also a history of lax government oversight of employment conditions in the J-1 program.
J-1 Categories
The J-1 umbrella includes 14 distinct categories that have their own set of rules and requirements.
Au Pairs
21,449
Camp
Counselors
21,810
College & University Students
36,536
Government Visitors
2,786
High School Students
21,081
International Visitors
4,599
Interns
16,833
Physicians
3,302
Professors & Research
Scholars**
25,072
Short Term Scholars
12,452
Specialists
1,802
Summer
Work Travel
92,619
Teachers
5,774
Trainees
10,612
*Numbers represent visas issued in 2022 (Source: https://j1visa.state.gov/basics/facts-and-figures/)
**In this graphic, the professor and research scholar category numbers are combined.
Worker Protections
J-1 visa holders can only secure their positions if they are brought in under sponsors (similar to “recruiters”). Sponsors must follow general regulations and rules for each exchange program category but are allowed to charge J-1 workers recruitment fees.
Disclosures: Each sponsor must provide accurate program information in all public advertisements and materials geared toward prospective exchange visitors, host organizations and employers.
Pre-Arrival Information and Orientation: Sponsors must provide clear information about the program to all exchange visitors before they arrive and must offer appropriate orientation.
Monitoring: Sponsors are required to monitor the exchange visitors participating in their programs and are expressly prohibited from retaliating or discriminating against exchange visitors who complain about the program.
J-1 by the Numbers
Issues
Displacement of U.S. Workers
The J-1 program does not have a built-in mechanism to guard against the displacement of U.S. workers. Unlike the various H visa programs, there is no requirement to advertise open jobs or recruit U.S. workers before hiring exchange visitors, nor is the program’s effect on the labor market evaluated.
Lack of Oversight
Despite being used as a work visa, the U.S. Department of Labor plays no role in regulating the J-1 program other than to enforce the standard federal wage and hour laws that apply to the general workforce.
Although the Department of State manages the program, it does not regulate employers directly. Rather, it regulates sponsor organizations that act as recruiters and liaisons between the employer and worker.
Labor Abuse
J-1 workers are vulnerable to wage theft, retaliation, fraud, discrimination, and human trafficking.
Geographic isolation, employment in private homes or in low-wage industries, and lax worker protections and oversight all contribute to J-1 worker vulnerability.
As with other nonimmigrant visas that authorize work in the U.S., lawful immigration status for J-1 workers is tied to a specific job placement. An individual who has paid money to come to the United States to work has a strong incentive to remain in an employment situation to try to earn back at least part of their upfront costs. This creates serious vulnerability for the J-1 visa holder.
Documented Cases of Abuse
United States v. Cooper
Jeffrey Jason Cooper, 46, recruited a group of female university students from Kazakhstan on J-1 Summer Work Travel visas by promising them work at a yoga studio in Miami, Florida. The young women were told that they would work as receptionists, setting up appointments and answering phone calls while enjoying cultural immersion in Miami. When they arrived, however, they found that the yoga studio had never existed; instead they were forced to run an erotic massage parlor from Cooper’s condo and perform sex acts for customers. Cooper, who was operating under a false name, advertised the women as “gorgeous” and “drama free” on Backpage.com. He told them that if they did not obey his orders, their visas would be revoked, and they would not be paid. The students were rescued by law enforcement after several months, and Cooper was convicted of 11 sex trafficking-related charges and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
United States v. Maksimenko
Aleksandr Maksimenko and his co-defendants were ringleaders in a conspiracy to bring women from Eastern Europe to work as exotic dancers in strip clubs in Detroit, Michigan. Posing as a legitimate business, Beauty Search Inc., the defendants promised participants through the J-1 Cultural Exchange Program an opportunity to learn English and work at local restaurants. These young women were forced to dance at strip clubs by threats of physical violence and deportation, document confiscation, debt bondage, and confinement. In particular, one woman was forced to dance for 12 hours a day, six days a week, and forced to meet a daily quota of $1,000 a day or face physical and sexual abuse. Similarly, the victims were made to believe that they incurred significant debt for travel and entry into the U.S. The defendants pleaded guilty to involuntary servitude, money laundering, and immigration conspiracies. Maksimenko was sentenced to 14.5 years in prison and ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution and his co-defendants received similar sentences.
Francis et al. v. Apex USA Inc., et al.
Workers recruited from Jamaica and other countries to work for hospitality businesses in Oklahoma through the Summer Work Travel (SWT) program filed a federal labor trafficking lawsuit in 2019, alleging they were induced to pay high recruitment fees in order to secure employment, compensated less than they had been promised, denied the full-time hours they were told they would be able to work, charged high rent for crowded and inadequate housing, and threatened with financial and/or physical harm if they left their jobs. Defendants Walter and Carolyn Schumacher are accused of getting away with abuses for some time because they controlled both the businesses that employed the J-1 SWT workers and their sponsor organization, which in theory was responsible for protecting the safety of J-1 SWT workers and advocating on their behalf. The Schumachers, according to the lawsuit, ignored complaints of low pay, irregular hours, and inadequate housing, and convinced their J-1 employees that they would suffer serious harm if they did not continue to work for their companies. The workers earned so little they were barely able to pay their expenses in Oklahoma, much less return home and repay thousands of dollars’ worth of loans they had taken out to pay recruitment fees and travel expenses.
Read more case stories in our publication: Human Trafficking on Temporary Foreign Work Visas in the U.S.A.
Recommendations
Job Portability
An employed J-1 visa holder is unable to unilaterally transfer to a different employer once they are in the United States, as the J-1 visa immigration status is dependent on employment through the original sponsor. The government should provide J-1 visa holders with visa portability, allowing workers to change employment from among the sponsors that have been approved by the State Department. This change will help weaken the hold of abusive sponsors and employers and improve worker treatment overall.
Transparency
Make information about the J-1 program publicly available and easily accessible to stakeholders and the public. Even though the U.S. government possesses detailed information on individuals who work with J-1 visas, including their age, gender, country of origin, program category and place of employment, this information is not publicly available.
Fair Recruitment
Regulate the recruitment of J-1 workers to protect against fraud, discrimination, and human trafficking and eliminate the practice of charging J-1 participants for placement.
Effective Oversight
Guarantee that J-1 workers have robust labor and employment protections, including access to justice across borders, and that the program does not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers.
Additional Resources
Shining a Light on Summer Work
Migration That Works, co-authored by Justice in Motion
Shortchanged: The Big Business Behind the Low Wage J-1 Au Pair Program
Migration That Works