Faith leaders across the United States are hopeful that a newly introduced bipartisan bill in Congress will provide much-needed relief for an ongoing immigration issue that has significantly impacted their communities over the past two years.
In March 2023, the Biden administration implemented a surprising alteration in the processing of green cards for individuals falling under categories that include abused minors and religious workers, leading to the emergence of new backlogs that jeopardize the status of thousands of clergy, including pastors, nuns, imams, and cantors.
The proposed legislation seeks to address a narrowly defined aspect of the immigration problem, with sponsoring lawmakers expressing optimism that its limited scope will enhance its chances of passage in a climate where immigration remains a deeply divisive topic.
Faith leaders assert that even a minor legislative fix could halt the detrimental effects that are currently suffocating their congregations and enable them to begin planning for the future once more.
The Rev. Aaron Wessman, vicar general and director of formation for the Glenmary Home Missioners, offers insight into the urgent need for reform.
“Unless there is a change to current practice, our community is slowly being strangled,” he stated.
He further emphasized the significance of the legislation, saying, “I will weep with joy if this legislation passes. It means the world for our members who are living in the middle of uncertainty and for the people they’ll be able to help.”
Wessman highlighted that two-thirds of Glenmary’s priests and brothers under 50 years of age are foreign-born, primarily hailing from Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and Uganda, and they are among those affected by the current immigration logjam.
The situation is critical for many others who serve a diverse array of faith communities in the U.S., providing both pastoral support and essential social services.
Although there are no precise statistics available, estimates suggest that thousands of religious workers are currently facing backlogs in the green card system or have been unable to submit their applications.
Religious congregations typically bring foreign workers into the United States under temporary R-1 visas, allowing these individuals to serve for up to five years.
This timeframe used to be sufficient for congregations to navigate the petitioning process for green cards through a special category designated as EB-4, which enables clergy to secure permanent residency.
Green card allocations are regulated annually by Congress and are organized into various categories, predominantly determined by employment types or family connections to U.S. citizens.
In numerous categories, the demand for green cards exceeds the available annual quota.
Citizens from countries experiencing high levels of demand find themselves placed in distinct, often longer, queues.
For instance, the married children of U.S. citizens from Mexico have faced the longest delays, with some applications dating back over 24 years.
Additionally, migrant children from Central America, specifically those with “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status”—meaning they are neglected or abused—were previously in a separate line but have now been combined into the general green card queue alongside religious workers.
This merging has created a significant bottleneck, resulting in a scenario where, by April 2023, green cards became unavailable even before the fiscal year had concluded.
As the new fiscal year begins in October, it is anticipated that these green cards will still remain trapped in the six-year backlog that emerged earlier this year—putting religious workers at risk of losing their status if their applications are still pending when their five-year visas expire.
According to a report released by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the EB-4 backlogs have been exacerbated by a surge in applications from minors in Central America and reported widespread fraud within that program.
The bills introduced in both the Senate and House aim to permit the Department of Homeland Security to extend the visas of religious workers indefinitely, provided their green card applications are pending.
Furthermore, the proposed legislation seeks to ensure that minor job changes—such as transitioning from associate to senior pastor or transferring to another parish within the same diocese—will not jeopardize their pending applications.
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, who spearheaded the Senate bill in April, expressed hope for its passage.
He mentioned that, following conversations with constituents at his Richmond parish, he decided to address the issue.
In his parish, two of the last three priests were foreign-born, and he has also been approached by concerned individuals, such as a sister from the Comboni missionaries, regarding their expiring visas.
Kaine, along with his Republican co-sponsors, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jim Risch of Idaho, indicated that their constituents are anxious about potentially losing numerous faith leaders from their communities.
Risch noted, “It adds to their quality of life. And there’s no reason they shouldn’t have the ability to have this.”
He remarked that religious beliefs transcend geographical boundaries and emphasized the positive contributions of foreign clergy who are eager to engage with fellow believers in the United States.
In the House, Republican Rep. Mike Carey of Ohio joined forces with both Republican and Democratic colleagues to propose an identical bill, which is currently under consideration in the respective judiciary committees.
Lance Conklin, a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and co-chair of the group representing religious workers, expressed bewilderment regarding any potential opposition to the legislation.
He noted that the proposed bill does not call for an increase in the number of green cards but rather seeks to provide much-needed time extensions on existing visas.
Various religious denominations—from Buddhism to Judaism—rely on foreign-born clergy to adequately serve their growing populations, particularly those who speak languages other than English and who possess education steeped in their religious traditions.
This reliance is critical for many faith communities, especially in light of clergy shortages in certain denominations.
The number of Catholic priests in the U.S. has plummeted by more than 40% since 1970, as reported by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a Georgetown University-affiliated research center.
However, some dioceses are now experiencing an increase in vocations to the priesthood, and there is optimism that this trend may continue, particularly after the recent election of Leo XIV—the first U.S.-born pope.
Last summer, the Diocese of Paterson, serving over 400,000 Catholics across 107 parishes in three New Jersey counties, along with five affected priests, filed a lawsuit against the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Their lawsuit claims that the changes made in 2023 have led to significant disruption in the lives of the priests and the religious freedoms of the communities they serve.
The government’s initial response maintained that the Department of State legally made the changes.
As negotiations on potential legislative solutions continue, the parties involved have agreed to pause the lawsuit, according to Raymond Lahoud, the attorney representing the diocese.
However, the bills are not part of the comprehensive legislation recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump, prompting the lawsuit to proceed.
Lahoud expressed frustration about the delay, saying, “We just can’t wait anymore.”
image source from：abcnews
