Foreign Students Protest

About 400 foreign students walked off their jobs last week at a plant here that packs Hershey’s chocolates, saying the J-1 summer program which is supposed to be a cultural exchange had instead turned them into underpaid labor.  The students, from countries including China, Nigeria, Romania and Ukraine, came to the United States through the long-established State Department summer visa program that allows them to work for two months and then travel. They said they were expecting to practice their English, make some money and learn what life is like in the United States. The students were put to work lifting heavy boxes and packing Reese’s candies, Kit-Kats and Almond Joys on a fast-moving production line, many of them on a night shift. After paycheck deductions for fees associated with the program and for their rent, students said at a rally in front of the huge packing plant that many of them were not earning nearly enough to recover what they had spent in their home countries to obtain their visas.

Although the J-1 summer program has drawn complaints recently from students about low wages and unexpectedly difficult work conditions this appears to be the first time that foreign students have engaged in a strike to protest their employment.

The arrangements that brought the foreign students to work at the Eastern Distribution Center III near Hershey, PA involved layers of contractors. A spokesman for Hershey’s, Kirk Saville, said the chocolate company did not directly operate the Palmyra packing plant, which is managed by a company called Exel. A spokeswoman for Exel said it had found the student workers through another staffing company.  The students said they mainly placed blame on the organization that manages the J-1 visa program for the State Department, the Council for Educational Travel, U.S.A., which is based in California.

If you have any questions about the J-1 visa program or student visas please contact our office at info at harms-law.com.

You can read more about this story at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/us/18immig.html?pagewanted=1&hpw

Governor signs private-scholarship part of Dream Act

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation Monday extending scholarship opportunities to undocumented immigrant students, part of landmark “Dream Act” legislation. A more controversial portion of the act, to allow undocumented students to receive publicly funded financial aid, is still pending in the Legislature.  The two bills differ from a federal proposal with the same name in that the state Dream Act does not provide a path to citizenship.

The bill Brown signed today, Assembly Bill 130, allows students who are in the country illegally but qualify for in-state tuition to apply for private financial aid. The Democratic governor is likely this year to sign the broader companion bill, Assembly Bill 131, allowing illegal immigrants to seek public aid, including Cal Grants. His predecessor, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, vetoed similar legislation.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/26/BA7S1KES77.DTL

Immigration Options After Graduation for UC Davis International Students and Scholars

After presenting to over 100 international students and scholars at University of California, Davis last week, I promised that I would post my powerpoint online.   Please bear with the rest of the site as we undergo a website redesign to offer more immigration resources and news.  We should have the H-1B and PERM handouts back online shortly.

Pursuing Work Authorization and Permanent Residence After Graduation