Class Has Preliminary Success In Suit On Religious Worker Visa Procedures

Ruiz-Diaz v. United States, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79217 (WD WA, Aug. 21, 2008), is a class action brought on behalf of certain foreigners in the United States who are seeking Religious Worker visas. It challenges a government regulation (8 CFR 245.2) that precludes those individuals from filing for Adjustment of Status before their Religious Worker application is adjudicated. The complaint alleges that this discriminates against certain classes of immigrants based on their religion, violates their free exercise, equal protection and due process rights and their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Concluding that plaintiffs have "a fair chance of success on the merits", the court ordered that they not be treated as unlawfully present in the country, or unlawfully employed, while the litigation is pending, thereby preventing their detention or deportation for being out of status.