More than 75% of people entering the United States on exchange visitor visas are working as cheap labor for employers.
Posted by Bannon`s War Room, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 45%
Bannon`s War RoomAug 17, 2026
The only source with a share figure, CIS (unrated advocacy group), reports that 75 percent of 2025 J-1 visa issuances went to workers, which roughly matches the claim's figure but not its 'more than 75%' wording.
A detail. The sources confirm the gist; the verdict faults a detail such as a date, number or wording.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… They're here on an exchange visitor visa, more than likely a J1 visa, and this program that was started to do Fulbrights and high school exchanges, now more than 75% of the people coming on these quote unquote exchange visas are actually cheap labor for employers, and that's because at some point, more than 20 years ago, somebody realized that you could start up a staffing company with a name like Save the World or, you know, Cultural Understanding, and bring in workers from other countries to work at low rates, long …
Bannon`s War Room · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. CIS states the share as exactly 75 percent, not more than 75 percent, so the claim's 'more than' figure is not what the source reports.[2]
Supports. CIS reports that 75 percent (about 185,000) of J-1 visa issuances in 2025 were for workers rather than traditional exchange programs.[2]
Context. The 75% figure counts visa issuances in 2025, not people entering the U.S., and the 'cheap labor' label is CIS's advocacy characterization rather than a measured finding.[2]
Context. The iHeart piece (published after the claim date) repeats the same roughly 75% figure, so it is not independent corroboration of CIS's number.[4]
Context. The NYT investigation documents employers using J-1 workers as cheap, exploitable labor in specific industries, but it does not provide a national share of entrants.[3]
Context. Reuters (2019) reports about 100,000 people a year enter through the exchange visitor program, mostly for summer work travel, with low wages and exploitation risks, but predates the claim and gives no current share.[1]
Sources
4 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 rated low, 1 tier 2, 1 not rated
- 1Visitors to U.S. under visa program at risk of trafficking, research saysreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Exchange Visa Programs Operate Mainly For Cheap Labor, Not ...cis.org · rated low for factual reporting by Media Bias/Fact Check · cited for: contradicts, supports, context
- 34 Takeaways From the Times Investigation Into the J-1 Visa Programnytimes.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 4The J-1 Visa Program Problem | Talk Radio 1190 - iHeart1190talkradio.iheart.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- The United States admitted more than 275,000 people on J1 exchange visas in 2025.True
- The State Department outsources the oversight of exchange visitor visa programs to staffing companies.Mixed
- Approximately 100,000 J1 visa holders worked summer jobs in 2025.True
- The J1 visa category for nannies has three times the overstay rate of any other category of temporary visa.False
- Approximately 32,000 J1 visa holders worked as camp counselors in 2025.True