Religious Immigration Services: Keeping the Faith
In 2024, CLINIC’s Religious Immigration Services (RIS) department continued the uphill battle that began in 2023, when a major policy change was announced which led to significant delays in immigrant visa processing for religious workers.
CLINIC’s RIS department serves priests, brothers, sisters, and other workers who come to the United States from abroad to provide pastoral work and other critical services like education and healthcare to U.S. communities. The policy change announced in early 2023 led to significant disruption in services to U.S. communities provided by religious workers, as many had to return to their home countries once their visa validity expired.
“In 2023, we were working as hard as we could to help keep pastors and other religious workers in their jobs here in the United States,” said Miguel Naranjo, Director of Religious Immigration Services.
“In 2024, that continued – but things did get better for a while. It was less dire. We were seeing improvements in case processing times.”
The team processed almost 1000 visa applications in 2024 – on target with their projections.
The RIS team also continued its work of outreach to religious congregations and dioceses across the United States, offering their services and expertise in immigration law to as wide an audience as possible. The year included travel to conferences to present on their work and meet prospective clients.
It also included spreading the word through Catholic and secular media. Naranjo was quoted by several major media publications regarding the ongoing visa backlog and CLINIC’s work in advocacy for better policy and direct legal aid to those affected.
In addition, he and Graciela Mateo, a senior RIS attorney, published an article in Vision Vocation Network entitled, “Religious Seekers in Limbo,” which won an award from the Catholic Media Association for Best Reporting on Vocations to Priesthood, Religious Life, or Diaconate.
“Foreign-born religious workers are the backbone of so many communities of faith in the United States,” said Mateo. “It’s our privilege to advocate and to keep up the steady work of making sure they can come and serve.”
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