Suit was filed last month in a New Jersey federal district court by the Catholic diocese of Patterson, New Jersey and by several Catholic priests who are citizens of foreign countries and are in the United States on R-1 Temporary Religious Worker visas. The lawsuit challenges a State Department rule change adopted in March 2023 which makes it more difficult for religious workers on R-1 visas to obtain EB-4 special immigrant religious worker permanent resident status ("green card"). The complaint (full text) in Roman Catholic Diocese of Patterson, New Jersey v. U.S. Department of State, (D NJ, filed 8/8/2024) alleges in part:
This civil action asserts that in March of 2023, Defendant-DOS acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it imposed an unfounded and unsupported interpretation of the Act as it relates to visa availability for individuals and subject to the EB-4 preference category and employers who must rely upon the EB-4 preference category for their workers. The recent and sudden agency action governing the calculation of visa availability and allocation by Defendant DOS was conducted without proper notice, failed to provide for a proper period of comment, exceeded the authority of Defendant-DOS, and directly threatens Individual-Plaintiffs’ ongoing ability to carry out their religious and spiritual vocation. In doing so, Defendant-DOS acted in a manner certain to disrupt countless religious workers, forcing Individual-Plaintiffs to either violate the terms of their nonimmigrant visa or face imminent and abrupt departure the United States without any knowledge as to when, or even if, Individual-Plaintiffs will return to the United States.
The complaint alleges, among other things, violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the 1st Amendment's Free Exercise Clause.
Americal Magazine reports on the lawsuit. North Jersey.com reports that the State Department's reaction to the lawsuit has been a statement that says in part:
[O]nly Congress has the ability to address the imbalance between the limited supply of EB-4 visas and the increasing demand. We recognize the importance of religious ministers and workers as well as their U.S. employers who lead faith-based institutions, and we share your concern about the long wait times for EB-4 visas.
