At 8:30 p.m., they were still ranting. The interview that had started two hours ago didn't let up until the office building supervisor began to shut the lights off.

These were some of the Filipino physical therapists here in New York that are up in arms in protest against the Federation of States Boards of Physical Therapy's (FSBPT) decision to ban graduates from the Philippines, Egypt, India, and Pakistan from taking the U.S. board exams due to allegations of cheating and exam leakages in review centers in these countries.

The result of which is a multitude of potential examinees from these countries stuck in the United States with their temporary visas getting closer and closer to expiration and their American dreams nearing a painful demise.

"I already took the exam and now they are holding the results so I can't work," said an unlicensed PT who requested anonymity. "I am afraid that when they release them, my visa would be expired."

Most aspiring PTs arrive in the United States with tourists visas. Once they pass the board exams, they apply for adjustment of status from visitor to temporary workers. This process eventually leads to the PTs becoming permanent residents and acquiring earnings enough to support their families. However, with the ban in effect, they are left with few choices: wait it out or return home. Given that most of the aspirants are not from rich families, the latter option is seldom chosen, and this ultimately leads to a life in the shadows – the life of the undocumented immigrant.

"The board exam is their ticket out of poverty," said Jonathan Suarez, CEO and president of Manhattan Allied Corporation, a healthcare staffing agency in New York City. "To deprive them of this ticket is not only wrong but it is against the very principle that this great nation symbolizes."

Some PTs complained that it is hard enough that they cannot take the exam and make their lives better, now the FSBPT is subjecting them to investigations that some say border on intimidation.

"They are investigating everyone. It is like they treat you like you did the cheating, which you did not. It is scary. This never happened before," said a PT.

According to M.V., a licensed PT working in New York, the ban on Filipino PT graduates was caused by an anonymous tip to the FSBPT by a business rival of one of the top review centers in the Philippines called St. Louis Review Center (SLRC). The rival is said to be jealous of a certain Gerard Martin, one of the revered reviewers of the company.

"I know Mr. Martin," said M.V. "He is an honest' and good man. He will never cheat."

The Department of Justice in the Philippines investigated the case after the FSBPT imposed the ban and was dismissed in August for insufficient evidence. But still the ban remains in effect.

Racism

"This is racism," said I.N., another licensed PT. "What the government wants is to stop the flow of excellent PTs from the Philippines so that employers are forced to hire the local American graduates."

Given the current scarcity of jobs in the United States, it is not far fetched that the Labor Department could impose such a ban to prioritize American citizens who are also in dire need of jobs to stay alive.

For Mr. Suarez, however, this is unconstitutional. "The U.S. constitution guarantees equal opportunity," he said. "No one shall be hired or fired based on ethnicity, nationality, and creed. If they do, there will be a showdown with the Supreme Court."

The FSBPT maintains that the ban was imposed due to "compelling evidence" of cheating. In a statement posted on their website, the board said:

"In order to understand the nature of the security breach and the subsequent decision to suspend testing for restricted groups, you must first understand the purpose of the National Physical Therapy Examination (NPTE). NPTE's purpose is to provide U.S. jurisdictions with an objective measure of an individual's ability to practice safely and competently.

"This decision to suspend testing for certain groups was made in response to objective, compelling evidence of pervasive sharing of recalled items by and among graduates of the restricted programs. More specifically, multiple continuing investigations reveal that there have been several security breaches involving large numbers of graduates from the restricted programs. These breaches primarily have involved examinees memorizing test content, including both test questions and topics on test forms, and then sharing the memorized content with other individuals preparing to take the NPTE.

The information gathered during FSBPT's investigations is further bolstered by an extensive forensic analysis of candidate score performances conducted by a third-party exam security firm, which revealed that graduates of the restricted programs, as a group, and as compared to graduates of other programs, show stark anomalies in their score performances and demonstrate a pattern of behavior that is sufficiently suspect of having an unfair advantage on the NPTE.

Any reproduction and distribution of NPTE content violates both the security agreement signed by examinees at least three times during the process of registering for and taking the exam, as well as U.S. and international copyright laws. But most importantly, these pervasive security breaches and the results of our experts' forensic analysis called into serious question the ongoing security of the NPTE among the graduates of the restricted programs and raised sufficient doubts as to the validity of score performances among these graduates to warrant action.

"This action by the FSBPT Board was not taken lightly, but was a necessary step to protect the public, which is the most fundamental component of the FSBPT mission. These security measures are intended to advance that important function."

Likewise, the board announced that held test results will be released October 1, 2010.