New Jersey Catholics sue Biden administration over clergy visas

(The Center Square) — A group of Catholic churches in New Jersey has filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking to reverse visa procedures for religious workers, which they say threaten the status of foreign-born clergy.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by the Catholic diocese in Patterson, on behalf of five foreign-born priests, names the U.S. Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Citizenship and Immigration Services as defendants.

The plaintiffs, whose visas are set to expire over the next two years, claim that recent changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act were implemented “without proper notice” and threaten the plaintiffs’ ability “carry out their religious and spiritual vocation.”

“The abrupt shift in the calculation of visa availability and sudden enforcement of that agency action imposes substantial burdens on plaintiffs,” lawyers for the diocese wrote in the 55-page complaint. “Plaintiffs will necessarily be deprived of their ability to engage in their religious vocation in the United States and will face significant undue disruption, cost, and delay relating to their respective immigration matters.”

The policy changes, announced in March 2023, added certain categories of child visa applications from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to the same queue as that of religious workers without raising the cap on the number of annual visa approvals. The plaintiffs argue that the changes have created backlogs in permanent resident card applications by clergy and religious workers.

Most religious workers immigrate to the U.S. under temporary R-1 visas, allowing them to live and work there for five years, after which they can apply for permanent residency.

In Congress, a group of Democratic lawmakers have filed a bill that would eliminate employment-based visa caps on abused, abandoned and neglected immigrant children. However, the House and Senate have yet to take up the proposal, which has languished since it was filed last year. About 40,000 child applicants are waiting for their visa applications to be reviewed, according to lawmakers.

“Immigrant children who have suffered abuse or neglect deserve certainty and an opportunity to start their lives in the United States,” U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said in a statement. “Placing vulnerable immigrant youth in employment-based visa backlogs and subjecting them to arbitrary per-country caps makes no sense.”

Backers of the proposal say it would increase the availability of EB-4 visas for religious workers and others in the category, such as members of the U.S. armed forces noncitizens who have supplied information concerning a criminal organization or enterprise or a terrorist organization.

The Catholic Church has lobbied lawmakers to approve the bill, arguing that it will improve the situation for religious workers as well as foreign children who are being denied visas amid the growing backlog of applications.

“Unfortunately, the current situation violates both Congress’ intent to provide religious organizations and our communities with needed workers and its express desire to protect vulnerable immigrant youth,” Bishop Mark Seitz, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, wrote in a recent letter to congressional lawmakers.

Seitz said the changes would “uphold the right to religious exercise, a foundational American principle, and empower vulnerable young people to flourish in their new country, contribute to our nation, and reach their full God-given potential.”