New Jersey Diocese Sues U.S. Government Over Religious Worker Visa Procedures

The Catholic diocese in Paterson, New Jersey, is seeking a reversal of visa procedures for religious workers, a rule they believe could jeopardize the status and future of foreign-born clergy in the United States.

The diocese is joined by five priests in the lawsuit filed on Aug. 8 in the U.S. District Court in Newark, targeting the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. According to the suit, four of the priests’ visas are set to expire in 2025, and one is set to expire in 2026.

Many religious workers come to the U.S. on temporary visas, granting them five years of work authorization, after which they can apply for permanent residency under a special category called EB-4.

The change they are challenging in the Immigration and Nationality Act involves the addition of new applicant categories—including minors from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador—to the same queue as religious worker visas. Traditionally, Congress sets a yearly maximum number of green cards available per category, usually based on professional or familial ties to the U.S.

This alteration has resulted in a surge of applications within their category while maintaining the cap on green cards issued per year, creating backlogs for clergy and religious workers seeking green cards.

The lawsuit filed by the New Jersey diocese alleges that the change was implemented “without proper notice” and poses a “direct threat” to the plaintiffs’ ability to fulfill 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,” the lawsuit states. “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.”

TIME has reached out to The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for comment.

In a statement, Reverend Mark Seitz, Bishop of El Paso, Texas, voiced opposition to the procedural change, advocating not only for religious workers, but also for young children who “often wait for years as they are required to compete with adults for visas in the EB-4 category.”

“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,” Seitz wrote.

In a statement emailed to TIME, a U.S. State Department spokesperson acknowledged that the 2023 policy change had significantly extended worldwide waiting times for religious worker green cards, but declined to comment on the litigation. 

“This is an untenable situation,” said Lance Conklin, who co-chairs the religious workers group of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, in a statement to “The lawsuit is representative of the way a lot of people feel.”