Changes ahead for foreign exchange students

The United States State Department plans major changes to a foreign-exchange programme that has been exploited by unscrupulous labour brokers and organised criminals in the sex industry, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The January 18 memo comes more than a year after an AP investigation uncovered widespread abuses in the J-1 Summer Work Travel programme, which annually allows more than 100,000 foreign college students to work in the US for up to four months.

It came from Adam Ereli, assistant secretary for the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and was addressed to Assistant Secretary of State Ann Stock.

"The reforms we are undertaking will significantly reduce the opportunities for wrongdoing and catch it much more quickly when it does occur," the memo said.

Some of the most significant changes would be to ban jobs in factories, warehouses and other places like seafood-packing plants.

The agency also plans on "re-emphasising the adult entertainment industry prohibition by specifically prohibiting jobs with escort services, adult book/video stores, massage parlours, and strip clubs".

It would require sponsors to "use particular prudence and caution when dealing with jobs that offer legitimate employment but also have been known to be associated with human trafficking, such as janitorial service, housekeeping and modelling agencies".

There's also a provision aimed at protecting American workers, "such as a more precise definition of temporary seasonal employment and a bar against SWT job placements during layoffs or lockouts."

The memo said the rules would be made public around March.

The companies the State Depart-ment designated as official sponsors - which charge up to several thousand dollars to arrange visas and jobs for the participants - objected to less significant changes made last year and to the anticipated new restrictions.

"They have told us they are taking these complaints to Congress, though we have yet to see any indication of congressional support for their position," the memo said. "Notwithstanding these potential criticisms, we think a solid case can be made that these changes are needed and that some are needed urgently."

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last year ordered a thorough review of the programme, and her department had already made several changes since the AP investigation uncovered living and working conditions that some participants compared to indentured servitude.

no new sponsors

In November, it had temporarily stopped accepting any new sponsors and will limit the number of future participants to this year's level, or about 109,000 students.

The State Department also revised its rules to require more oversight by its 53 designated sponsors.

The exchange programme was created in 1963 to allow college students from other countries to spend their summer breaks living, working and travelling in the US, all in the name of fostering cultural understanding and showcasing what is great about America.

Under the J-1 programme, foreign students often land jobs at hotels, resorts and restaurants. But they have also worked in places like fish factories and strip clubs. Many of the students end up in resort towns, and in places in the Florida Panhandle the abuse has been so bad that it helped inspire state legislation.

Participation has boomed from about 20,000 students in 1996 to a peak of more than 150,000 in 2008, and roughly one million foreign students have taken part in the past decade.

The students come from around the world, with some of the top participating countries being Russia, Brazil, Ukraine, Thailand, Ireland, Bulgaria, Peru, Moldova and Poland.

- AP