More jobs will be banned in the fall. These include most construction, manufacturing and food processing jobs. Summer Work Travel students will also not be allowed to work in most mining and agricultural jobs.

Daniel Costa at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington welcomed the new limits on jobs that the students can fill.

DANIEL COSTA: "That is good because it will protect the actual foreign workers from getting injured on the job. It also protects U.S. workers, because there is high unemployment in a lot of those occupations."

He also praised a requirement that employers only fill temporary or seasonal jobs with Summer Work Travel students. He noted that some employers have continually hired new student workers to avoid having to hire regular full-time employees.

Jacob Horwitz is lead organizer for the National Guestworker Alliance, the group that organized the strike in Palmyra.

JACOB HORWITZ: "The changes to the J-1 rules really recognize the demands that the students put forward, and both add a whole set of protections and changes that protect local workers who work in industries that use guest workers and also protect future J-1 students."

He says the State Department's changes will help return the program to its original purpose as a cultural exchange program.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I'm Jim Tedder.