By Amanda Hudson, News Editor
What if your parish lost a priest? Bill would permit immigrant priests and religious workers to stay.
The potential impact of a bill before Congress called “The Religious Workforce Protection Act” (RWPA) is widespread and includes the Diocese of Rockford. The RWPA is framed as protecting the free exercise of religion. The bill has 21 bipartisan cosponsors (15 Democrats, 6 Republicans).
Why it is important
Many immigrant religious workers — including Catholic priests and nuns — legally enter the country on R-1 non-immigrant religious worker visas that allow them to enter the U.S. to perform religious duties temporarily. These are initially granted for a 30-month period, with one possible renewal of their R-1 status allowing for a total of five years. While within that window, they can apply for employment-based EB-4 status so they can legally remain in the U.S. without interruption. The EB-4 visa is an immigrant visa category designed for religious workers, among other special immigrant groups, to provide a pathway to obtain lawful permanent residence. Put another way, once an EB-4 petition is approved and a visa number becomes available, the religious worker may next apply for adjustment of status to become a lawful permanent resident —commonly referred to as receiving a green card.
The problem is the EB-4 visa backlog is over 200,000 cases, creating 20+ year waits. That means religious workers must leave after working in the United States for five years, before they are able to apply for and obtain a green card.
Priest shortage across the U.S.
Many of these immigrant religious workers are priests. The National Study of Catholic Priests — released in 2022 by The Catholic University of America’s Catholic Project — indicated that 24% of priests serving in the U.S. are foreign-born.
But that percentage can be even higher. In 2023, for example, The Diocese of Des Moines’ communications office informed OSV News the diocese had 35 foreign-born priests pending some level of immigration status approval; the diocese has roughly 77 priests in active ministry.
Also in 2023, in the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, 50 of 145 active priests — approximately 35% — were foreign-born, according to Anne Streitenberger, the diocese’s human resources director.
Attempting a fix
The current bill (H.R. 2672 / S.1298) to address these challenges was introduced in April this year, with bipartisan support. In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) and cosponsored by Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lindsay Graham (R-South Carolina), James Risch (R-Idaho), and Christopher Coons (D-Delaware). In the House, the bill was introduced by Representative Mike Carey (R-Ohio), and cosponsored by three Republicans and two Democrats.
The bill would allow the Department of Homeland Security to extend R-1 status indefinitely for religious workers until green cards are available, meaning they would not have to leave the United States after the expiration of their R-1 status. This would permit limited job flexibility without restarting the process, and apply retroactively to those previously forced to leave. It would not increase immigration numbers but would ensure continuity of religious services vital to communities nationwide. If signed into law, the bill would permit religious workers already in the U.S. on temporary R-1 status with pending EB-4 applications to stay in the U.S. while waiting for permanent residency, sponsor Collins’ office said.
Catholic bishops and others express support
Catholic organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, also known as CLINIC, have backed the legislation.
A spokesperson for the USCCB told OSV News on Aug. 6, “We’re continuing our education efforts about the pressing need for the RWPA, and together with our interfaith partners, we’re encouraging grassroots supporters to raise this issue with their members of Congress ….”
“We remain hopeful that Congress will have an opportunity to move the bill forward before the end of the year,” the spokesperson said.
Erin Corcoran, an associate teaching professor and executive director of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, said the legislation is “a very modest fix.”
“One of the things we’ve seen historically is that there are a lot of small, little fixes that could happen through legislation for these exact kinds of immigration dilemmas. But historically, Congress has always wanted to pass everything at once, so this provision has been put in comprehensive immigration reform bills in the past” that aren’t agreed upon.
Corcoran also said, “We’ve seen so little bipartisan solutions to problems, and to me, this is the kind of thing that this administration should be embracing, because it can show that they can be compassionate, that there are bipartisan solutions that are available for certain sub-populations within the immigration backlog, and that we all benefit, right, from these people being in our parishes.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview that aired Aug. 7 with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over,” that the administration is trying to “create its own standalone process” for religious workers, instead of having them conflated with other immigration categories.
“We clearly view that entry point as very different than some of these others,” Rubio said, adding, “We don’t want to read headlines that some Catholic Church had to close because it couldn’t get their priests here … some order closed because some nun couldn’t get here. …
“We’re working on it. We know it’s an issue, and we’re committed to fixing it.”
In the Diocese of Rockford, 13 priests are foreign born and serving here on an R-1 visa.
So, what can we do to help?
The RWPA (H.R. 2672 / S.1298) remains in committee. It was introduced in April 2025 and referred to the House Judiciary Committee. As of October 2, 2025, it has not advanced to a floor vote.
Concerned Catholics in the Diocese of Rockford can encourage passage of the Religious Workforce Protection Act.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urges Catholics to contact legislators, attend town halls, write letters to the editor, and share parish-level testimonies that highlight the indispensable role of immigrant religious workers. The USCCB’s advocacy toolkit (https://www.usccb.org/RWPAtoolkit) offers practical steps for grassroots mobilization, including sample messages and prayer resources.
Catholics in Rockford can reach out to their congressional representatives, especially those on the House Judiciary Committee, and emphasize how the bill protects religious freedom and sustains parish life.
In October 2025, the House is in session Oct. 14–17, and the Senate is in session Oct. 1, 6, 24, and 31, with both chambers in session Oct. 7–10, 20–23, and 27–30.
