A catholic diocese in New Jersey is suing the U.S. over immigration delays affecting priests' status

After more than a year of pressing Congress and the Biden administration to address a procedural change in green card processing that threatens the status of thousands of religious workers in the U.S., The Catholic Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, alongside five priests facing imminent visa expirations, has sued the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

The lawsuit, the first of its kind by a diocese, argues that the aforementioned change "will cause severe and substantial disruption to the lives and religious freedoms" of the priests as well as the hundreds of thousands of Catholics they serve, as reported by The Associated Press.

The procedural change has exacerbated an existing shortage of religious workers in the U.S. American dioceses, which have traditionally relied on foreign-born clergy to meet the needs of their congregations yet are now struggling to retain these workers.

The delays are largely attributed to a backlog in green card applications, particularly after the State Department in March 2023 added a large number of humanitarian cases to the same processing queue as religious workers. Some estimate it could take 10-15 years to get these green cards.

Bishop Mark Seitz of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops expressed concern over the delays to the Associated Press, describing the situation as "not sustainable". In his El Paso, Texas diocese, Seitz is confronting the potential loss of priests who may be required to leave the country for at least a year due to the expiration of their visas.

"One is pastor of a large, growing parish," Seitz said. "Now I'm supposed to send him away for a year, put him on ice, as it were — and somehow provide Masses?"

Proposed changes include allowing religious workers to change ministry jobs without losing their place in the green card line and reducing the time they must spend outside the U.S. after their visa expires.