Serving Ice Cream Isn't a Cultural Exchange

President Donald Trump's one big idea about immigration -- that there's too much of it -- is so wrong that it tends to obscure some of the smaller things the administration is trying to get right. Even minor changes could help restore public confidence in an immigration system that is too easily abused.

A case in point is the exchange-visitor program, through which 300,000 people receive visas to the U.S. every year. Created more than five decades ago, the program is designed to allow young people from other countries to gain exposure to American culture. About one-third of those who come on these visas, known as J-1s, are students, professors and academic researchers. The rest enter the labor force: as au pairs, camp counselors, corporate interns and medical residents.