REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. - The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) says capacity limits at United States embassies overseas could limit the number of J-1 visas given out this year and Rehoboth Beach businesses are worried that the workforce they rely on in the summer season won't be able to come to the U.S.
Business continues to ramp up in Rehoboth Beach as more people gain confidence to travel and be in public settings again, but many businesses say not enough Americans are applying to fill their job openings.
Funland has been hiring J-1 students for over 20 years. Personnel Manager Chris Darr says they usually hire about 30 students, but they had none in 2020. "It's a cultural program," Darr says. "They can come experience the United States for four months. They can work. They can earn some money, travel, but right now we're looking for American employees." Hiring signs color more storefronts on Rehoboth Avenue. "Our projections are that people have been trapped for a year or so now and that they're ready to come out," says Grotto Pizza Director of Human Resources Glenn Byrum. Byrum says Grotto Pizza hires up to 100 J-1 students to staff its locations along the coast each summer and that hiring for 2021 is a nightmare. "We expect it to be as busy as 2019 or maybe even a little bit busier," Byrum says. "The Biden administration, a couple of days ago, got rid of a proclamation that the Trump administration put in, which prevented people from traveling on a visa, on the J-1 visa," says CIEE Vice President of Professional Exchange Programs Phil Simon. Simon says the program operated at about five percent of its normal enrollment in 2020 and that 2021 enrollment will be extremely low, at least at first. "Normally students start to come next month in May and I think participation in May is going to be extremely low and hopefully we see an uptick in June, but at the moment, data does not support us seeing a lot of students here this summer," Simon says. Simon says U.S. embassies are backlogged. "They've been closed in most places for quite a long time and they have a list of priorities they're working down," Simon says. Simon says a travel date and travel requirements like vaccines, testing and quarantining are still unclear. In the meantime, Darr and Byrum say you can find them at local job fairs. Both Funland and Grotto Pizza say the J-1 students are especially important at the end of the summer season when American students go back to school. These businesses say they'll hire them no matter how late in the summer they arrive.
