US guest workers slam ‘exploitation’ scheme
Students protest against summer work and travel programme, saying they are forced to exist in inhumane conditions.
Students from Latin America and Asia studying in the US have walked out of their jobs at a McDonald’s restaurant in New York, demanding that the government review its existing guest worker programme.
The J-1 Summer Work and Travel Programme allows university students from around the world to live in the US and work with a sponsor company.
More than 100,000 people take part in the popular programme every year.
But some students say they are not being treated fairly by US companies and are being forced to live and work in inhumane conditions.
Jorge Rios tells Al Jazeera how he came to the US from Argentina as part of the programme and his concerns about the system.