Potential Visa-Program Cuts Have Travel Industry Alarmed
Photo Credit: The White House is mulling whether to change or eliminate the J-1 visa program. Pictured are J-1 Summer Work Travel student workers in Ocean City, Maryland. Flickr / Exchanges Photos
Skift Take
The J-1 visa program is an invaluable resource for many travel industry businesses. It's clear that any cuts to the program would be detrimental to the travel industry and the broader U.S. economy.
Many U.S. travel brands use a foreign worker visa program to help their operations run smoothly during peak seasons. For some companies, these workers, who arrive under the J-1 visa program, are a significant percentage of their workforce.
But, President Donald Trump's proposal to make cuts to the program has much of the travel industry concerned.
The Trump Administration is considering major cuts, new requirements or eliminating the program, which brings tens of thousands of foreign workers to the United States each year for work and cultural exchanges, the Wall Street Journal reported last month.
The White House's proposed cuts to the J-1 program, which dates to the 1960s, stem from the Trump's "Buy American, Hire American" executive order signed earlier this year. The White House feels that foreign students and workers who are granted visas to work in the U.S. are taking jobs from Americans who need them.
While separate from the J-1 program, it's ironic that President Tr
