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Why is there a special visa program ([link removed]) carved out for “ministers and non-ministers in religious vocations and occupations” who come to this country “for the purpose of performing religious work?” I’ve mentioned this program before because there’s just no good reason to be allowing ministers and people who work in “religious vocations'' to immigrate here instead of more scientists or more doctors or pretty much anyone else. I’m mentioning it again because we've made some progress.

The most glaring problem with the program is that it seems to be rife with corruption because some “faith groups” have brought thousands of people here and, anecdotally, many of them end up working in fields such as housekeeping and maintenance at facilities owned by the sponsor “religion” instead of performing the religious activities sanctioned by the R-1 visa program. I’m looking at you, Scientology, because this article ([link removed]) and this longer, more recent one ([link removed]) cite info from a Freedom of Information Act request from eight years ago and they include interviews with people who were brought to this country by the Scientologists under false pretenses. Scientologists are not the only known abusers of the system here, either.

Before we can talk to Congress about the need for the R-1 program and the corruption in it we need some new data about it. Last year SCA and American Atheists filed a new Freedom of Information Act request to find out how many people are now participating in the R-1 program, what countries they come from and what faith groups and denominations are bringing them here. We heard back in March that our request was, I’m not making this up, number 866 out of 1,012 pending requests at USCIS.

What’s a better way to get USCIS to prioritize looking at the problems with the R-1 program? Have Congress ask about it. And a good way for Congress to do this is to put the request in the bill that funds USCIS next year. In March I went to Congressman Mark Pocan’s office along with government affairs staff from our coalition members to ask if he could make that request. Congressman Pocan (D-WI) is on the committee that writes the funding bills and a member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus ([link removed]) so he is exactly who we need to help us out with this.

This week we read the following in the House spending bill for USCIS for 2024: “R-1 Visas.—USCIS shall brief the [Appropriations] Committee on reports of organizations abusing the R-1 visa program through deceptive and exploitative labor practices within 180 days of enactment of this Act, including on its plans to prevent such abuses.” Thank you, Congressman Pocan.

The process is not over on the Hill; this spending bill still has to pass the House and then merge with the Senate’s spending bill. But getting your request included at the outset is 90 percent of the battle. We will make sure our R-1 language remains intact so that USCIS does let Congress know about the problems in the program and what it proposes to do about them. At that point Congress can take a look at the big picture and what the future of the R-1 program should be.
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We’re getting close to the first ever get-together for secular Capitol Hill staff that SCA has been planning. We know some of the secular staff but we don’t know all of them. You can’t get things like this R-1 visa reform done without the help of Hill staffers. We’re looking forward to getting them together for pizza so everyone gets to know each other better. Details next time.


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Scott MacConomy, Director of Policy ad Government Affairs at the Secular Coalition for America, wears a blue suit and stands with his arms crossed over his chest in front of the United States Capitol Building.

Your advocate,

Scott MacConomy
Director of Policy and Government Affairs
Secular Coalition for America
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