For decades, nonimmigrant religious workers having been coming to the United States to provide essential services to our U.S. communities. However, in more recent years, religious workers have faced significant delays and challenges. In response to these challenges, the RIS and Advocacy team at CLINIC have joined forces to addresses these issues and make it clear that religious workers are essential. Read the article below to learn more about what RIS and Advocacy have done so far and what is to come.

The religious worker community has seen numerous immigration changes and consequential delays in the past few years. In response to this, the Religious Immigration Services, or RIS, department at CLINIC, along with our Advocacy department, implemented the “Religious Workers Are Essential” campaign.

This campaign began in December 2021 with a policy brief, entitled “The Human Consequences of USCIS Policies and Backlogs on Religious Workers and the Communities They Serve.” This document presented the issues religious workers were facing and the recommendations CLINIC set forth on how U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, could solve these problems. A few of these recommendations included making more forms eligible for premium processing (including Form I-360), making premium processing more accessible with lower fees for nonprofits and a transparent system for site visits, and allowing concurrent filing for the permanent residence process.

CLINIC’s Advocacy department then took the recommendations a step further in creating the Religious Workers are Essential Toolkit. This resource gives legal representatives and advocates practical tools to advocate on behalf of religious workers. These tools include sample social media posts, sample letters to USCIS, sample letters to the editor, and prayers.

In 2023, RIS invites you to join us in putting the toolkit to use! RIS will be using the toolkit to highlight the advocacy recommendations, along with other religious worker issues in need of attention, for our clients. RIS will write in-depth articles about the selected issues, what the legal problem is and how the recommendations would improve the religious worker program. In addition, RIS will be providing sample social media posts and webinars so our clients can use the toolkit to support their religious workers. RIS truly believes in the work of our clients and the positive contributions religious workers make in their communities. Please help us in 2023 make it clear that #ReligiousWorkersAreEssential!