No matter the nationality, it’s always pitiable when foreigners get taken advantage of in a major way while traveling abroad.
 
Here’s one case involving Chinese in the U.S.: Some 130 Chinese student pilots were stranded for weeks in Florida when the flight training school they attended closed up shop even though the Chinese had paid upward of $70,000 each to attend the school.

Look at the English language video on this Chinese website to see a news dispatch from a local network affiliate in Tampa about the students.

Best as I can tell, the students were sponsored by Chinese airlines to go abroad and receive pilot training. For background, read my story here about the shortage of pilots in China.

They ended up at the CAPT (commercial airline pilot training) school in Bunnell, Florida, which is north of Daytona Beach. The school shuttered its doors a few weeks ago, leaving the students in a really pathetic situation of having no money, being evicted from their apartments, unable to buy a vehicle because their visas didn’t permit it, and fearful that their dreams of becoming pilots would go up in smoke.

A reader of this blog in Florida notified me of the situation. Here’s a part of his email to me:

The kids were told they had to move out of their apartments, were left with no food, no school, and no passports and school credentials.  The situation has abated a bit - the kids were sent to another two flight training schools, one in New Smyrna Beach and the second in Sanford.  Things got a bit testy initially but now seem to have cooled down a little.
 
Since no one locally seemed interested enough to help these kids, I was on the phone to the China consulate in Houston, the Florida Attorney General's Office in Tallahassee, and the US Department of State.  Not sure if it helped but the next day it was announced that the kids would be sent to the two other flight schools. Fox and ABC did local stories on it.

I founda blog from Flagler County, Florida, with this posting:

More than 140 Chinese students, who had hoped to become pilots, are trapped in a Palm Coast, Florida apartment complex without income, electricity, food or transportation. They have fallen victims of a flight school that shut down and filed bankruptcy. The school location is Palm Coast, Florida.

The students were sponsored by Chinese airlines to learn to become pilots at the school. The CAPT Program (Commercial Airline Pilot Training Program) was paid several thousands of dollars per student to provide them training, housing and a food allowance.
Having been left sauve qui peut , the apartment rent is due and there is no money for food. The students have been in the US for over a year. Their visa status prevents them from getting jobs. Their school manual stipulates that they cannot use local transportation as well.
Appeals to the school's director have gone unanswered. Their only resource has been to go to the media to see if anyone will come forward to assist them. This should be considered a warning to anyone thinking of paying money to go to the US for study. Never pay everything up front.
Meanwhile, the program website still advertises for students. It would seem logical that the program attempt to relocate the students elsewhere, along with all the promised benefits, in light of their school closing. However, the fate of the students remains "up in the air."

Another woman there posted the following:

I found the article interesting as we have many Asian men who walk past my house many times a day walking to Publix, Target, etc..... I had wondered what was up, and I believe this is the answer. They seem to live in the apts on Rt 100 west of Belle Terre....

Chinese media haven’t picked up much on it. But one site at aviationlaw.com.cn noted the irony that the students had been entrusted with planes costing upward of $300,000 but prevented from buying automobiles or motorcycles.

Another Chinese news outlet said the students were promised 250 flying hours at the school. Many of them had signed contracts with domestic airlines pledging to return to China and work for them once they had commercial licenses.

The Chinese-language Global Times quoted one student surnamed Wang from Nanjing Aviation University saying: “I came to the U.S. with the dream of becoming a pilot. But I have not gotten a license yet. My family is worried about me very much and wants me to come back home. However, if I go home now, I cannot be a pilot.”