When Michael Van Camp got the news that the State Department would be pausing J-1 visa applications for foreign students, he nearly had a panic attack. 

As the primary parent of four children, he has for 12 years relied on au pairs for caregiving, all of them in the U.S. on those very visas. His current au pair’s papers expire in July — and he has no idea what comes next.

“I am really worried,” Van Camp said. He works long hours as the director of engineering at a large cybersecurity company. Now summer camps are full, and consistent babysitters are hard to find. “This would be horrible for my finances and also my mental health.” 

Bay Area families have long relied on au pairs to care for children, whether because of long work hours or a desire to introduce kids to other cultures. Now the Trump administration’s chaotic immigration crackdown is leaving staffing agencies and the families that rely on them scrambling ahead of summer break and the back-to-school season — and raising questions about the viability of the au pair program’s future. 

The pause on scheduling J-1 visa interviews and the additional time needed for extra background scrutiny could affect a significant portion of the more than 300,000 people who come to the United States every year on temporary visas. Among them are more than 3,000 au pairs who fill child-care jobs in California. A recent study estimated that au pairs account for 12% of all child-care staffers for California families with children under age 3.

Tom Areton, executive director of Cultural Homestay International, said the new rules have thrown the visa process into disarray. 

“The idea that this policy is a simple pause is true on paper, but our experience is that there is chaos in U.S. embassies around the world,” Areton said. 

He said many embassies “seem to follow their own marching orders,” noting that some are still granting visas without an interview, while others refuse to allow applicants to open new applications, something the State Department says is permitted even though the interview portion cannot be completed. 

“We don’t have any other part of the law that is this subjective,” said Areton.

Families that use au pairs are desperate for information but have little to go on. 

“Currently in panic mode,” one parent wrote in a message to The Standard. Her family was expecting an au pair to arrive in July but found out that she won’t have a visa interview until August. 

One stressed East Bay parent facing a lack of child care this summer said that if the delays continue, “this might just be our last time using an au pair.” 

Au pair agencies say they are relying heavily on information reported in the media and are not receiving communications from the State Department. 

Devon Kapler, executive director of Go Au Pair, said if the pause on visa interviews lasts longer than a few weeks, families whose au pairs were scheduled to arrive in June or July may see their plans delayed. 

“There are seasonal flows when au pairs come, and right now the summer and beginning of the school year in the United States is a very big time,” Kapler said. “If this pause continues, we will start to see a very big problem.”

In an email to parents, leadership at Cultural Care Au Pair wrote that the Trump administration’s new rules will affect only families with au pairs who are waiting to schedule visa appointments or have not yet begun the application process, and the company will “closely monitor” the situation.

The au pair program in California was already on shaky ground. Recent lawsuits against agencies have aimed to make visiting workers subject to California’s minimum wage laws instead of the lower federal stipend rules, a change that would likely reduce demand for cheaper foreign workers. Meanwhile, immigration mayhem is making some would-be au pairs question whether they want to come to the U.S.

Before the visa pause, Areton was already seeing the Trump administration’s immigration policies have a chilling effect on visa applicants. 

“Foreign students are scared, and foreign parents are scared,” he said. “They do not want to send their children to a country to get picked up off the street, deported, or harassed.” 

Without the camp counselors, au pairs, students, and other temporary immigrant workers who rely on visas, U.S. communities will pay the price, Areton added: “This is only going to punish American children.”

When Jamie Shurter, an anesthesiologist in Orinda, heard the news of the pause in issuing visas, she feared that her family — headed by two physicians with unpredictable hours — would face its first summer since 2018 without an au pair. After calling and texting the au pair she’s expecting to arrive in August, she received a photo of the visa and confirmation that all was well.

“We are going to be OK,” Shurter said. “But so many other families will not be.”