OCEAN CITY, Md. - Like many beach towns, Ocean City relies heavily on international students for its summer workforce.
A ban restricting J1 students from entering the United States expires Wednesday, which could allow hundreds, if not thousands of summer jobs to be filled in OC.
Jay Knerr, owner of the Kite Loft on the Ocean City boardwalk says last year, without J1 student workers, "it was very, very difficult." Knerr says he hires around 25 to 30 J1 students to work his shop.
"Last year we had zero. So I had a staff of about ten employees. Of course, when you run a business the size of ours, it makes it very very difficult," Knerr says, "so we had to be here basically day and night and do the best we could which we did. We managed it. This year, business has really taken off. A lot of people are out about and spending money. We expect an extremely good summer in Ocean City."
The ban on J1 visas was put in place in late June of last year. It banned foreign nationals from coming to work in the United States while the coronavirus pandemic was wrecking havoc on the US job market.
The ban was set to expire originally on December 31, 2020, however, former president Donald J. Trump extended the ban until March 31st, 2021. President Joseph R. Biden revoked part of the immigration visa ban, while letting the J1, H-1B, H-2B, L-1 visa program bans to expire on Wednesday.
Susan Jones of the Ocean City Hotel Motel Restaurant Association says, despite the ban expiring, there is still some trouble ahead. "The issue becomes the processing of the visas. So students still have to get the visas to come over here and work. So the consulates and embassies are the ones who have to issue the visas. So we've really been trying to urge the consulates and the administration to make the visas a little more a priority," Jones says.
Jones says a delay in visa processing could cause a delay in when and for how long students can come to work this summer.
