U.S. Trafficking Policy and the J-1 Visa Program : The State Department's Challenge from within

Authors

Patricia Medige, Freedom Network (USA)
Catherine G Bowman

First Page

103

Abstract

This article will review two key J-1 categories of the Exchange Visitor Program-the Au Pair and Summer Work Travel (SWT) programs-and compare the legal protections afforded by them to those provided under the H-2A and H-2B visas, two temporary worker visa programs regulated by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL).7 The article will then discuss the J-1 program within the context of the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA),8 a federal law passed in 2000, which significantly altered the legal definitions and penalties associated with human trafficking and conferred additional responsibilities to the State Department to coordinate anti-trafficking efforts. The authors will argue that the State Department's management of the J-1 visa program compromises its anti-human trafficking role, both at the federal level, as the agency responsible for coordinating U.S. anti-trafficking activities, and at the international level, in monitoring and critiquing other nations on their efforts to stem human trafficking. The article concludes with recommendations for reform to the J-1 program.

Recommended Citation

Patricia Medige & Catherine G Bowman, U.S. Trafficking Policy and the J-1 Visa Program : The State Department's Challenge from within, 7 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 103 (2012).
Available at: https://scholarship.stu.edu/ihrlr/vol7/iss1/9