U.S. Senators Risch, Crapo working to correct federal R-1 visa debacle

• Idaho loses three priests; 14 more could be lost due to 2023 ‘reinterpretation’

of federal immigration law

• More political sponsorship, support needed for proposed legislation

aimed at providing a ‘fix’

Many religious workers across the nation, including Catholic priests, are in danger of losing their legal status and being forced to leave the country. (Image created using AI)

By Philip A. Janquart

ICR Editor

A “reinterpretation” of federal law governing visas for religious workers could force 14 more Catholic priests in Idaho to leave the country.

The prior of the Verbum Spei community at the Monastery of Our Lady of Ephesus in Boise became the first Catholic priest in Idaho to be affected by the massive backlog of R-1 religious worker visa applicants seeking permanent residency.

The R-1 visa allowed the prior to stay in the country while working toward obtaining his green card, or permanent residency card. Yet because of the backlog, he could not obtain one within the five-year limit and was forced to leave the U.S. in January 2025.

Another priest of the same community was forced to leave Aug. 15.

In November, the Diocese of Boise will lose its first parish priest, bringing the number of priests forced to leave Idaho to three, with 14 more at risk.

All three priests requested that their names be witheld.

“In the near future, a group of our priests will all be hit at once because they came here at about the same time,” Gayle Batt, a former Idaho House member (2011–2016) who is working with a state delegation on the issue, told the Idaho Catholic Register (ICR). “So far, we have lost three, and next year (2026) we stand to lose eight diocesan priests, in a period of 12 months.”

There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel, giving hope to foreign-born priests and the communities they serve.

Possible solution?

Idaho U.S. Sens. James Risch and Mike Crapo have sponsored bipartisan legislation intended to remedy religious worker visa (R-1) issues that have already had devastating effects on foreign-born religious workers across the nation.

Both chambers of Congress have introduced versions of a proposed measure that would allow foreign-born workers to request from the secretary of Homeland Security an extension of their R-1 visa status while waiting for completion of the green card process.

The bills, H.R. 2672 in the House and S. 1298 in the Senate, were introduced in April 2025 during the 119th Congress and contain key provisions of the proposed Religious Workforce Protection Act (RWPA), which aims to address challenges facing the Religious Worker

Sen. James Risch

Visa Program (RWVP).

The goal is to ensure that religious workers can continue serving their communities without interruption, in line with the RWVP as intended by Congress when it was created in 1990.

Risch, a Catholic, is the originating sponsor of S. 1298. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Tim Kaine, D-Va., are co-sponsors.

Risch told the ICR in an Aug. 19 email that he is committed to finding a solution that would allow religious workers nationwide to continue serving in their current roles.

“For years, I have heard from Idahoans concerned about the loss of their local priests, bishops and other foreign-born faith leaders caused by a visa processing backlog,” he wrote. “These individuals lawfully entered our country and have become vital members in our communities. These religious workers and their congregations should not be penalized for bureaucratic delays beyond their control. The Religious Workforce Protection Act offers a common-sense fix to address this issue, and I remain committed to working with my fellow senators to ensure our dedicated religious workers continue to serve in Idaho and across the U.S.”

In an April 8, 2025 news release from Sen. Risch’s office, Idaho Bishop Peter F. Christensen commended Risch and his fellow co-sponsors for their efforts and gave a perspective on the potential effects on the Catholic Church in Idaho if the issue is not resolved.

“Despite the vast territory and increasing membership, our diocese is served by only 79 priests,” he said. “If the current R-1 visa procedures remain in effect, our diocese will face severe hardship when foreign-born priests are required to leave the country for at least one year or more.”

Call to action

Foreign-born priests comprise 22% of the 79 active priests in Idaho.They come from Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and New Zealand.

According to the 2022 National Study of Catholic Priests conducted by The Catholic University of American’s Catholic Project, 24% of Catholic priests in the U.S. are foreign-born.

On April 10, 2025, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference

Sen. Mike Crapo

of Catholic Bishops and head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and Bishop Mark J. Seitz, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, sent a joint letter to Congress urging support for the proposed measure.

“We write on behalf of the USCCB to express our strong support for the Religious Workforce Protection Act …, which was recently introduced on a bipartisan basis,” the letter stated. “We urge you to join with your colleagues in co-sponsoring this vital measure and to work toward its immediate passage, thereby furthering the free exercise of religion in our country for the benefit of all Americans.”

Batt, a Catholic who has been working on behalf of the Diocese of Boise, urges Catholics in Idaho to contact the offices of Congressmen Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson, asking them to consider co-sponsoring the legislation.

You can contact Fulcher by calling (202) 225-6611, emailing fulcher.house.gov/contact, or writing to 1514 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515-1201.

Contact Simpson by calling (202) 225-5531, emailing house.gov/contact, or writing to 2084 Rayburn HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515.

Where it all went wrong

The problem with R-1 visas began in March 2023, in the last year of the Biden administration, when the U.S. State Department merged religious worker (EB-4) applicants into the broader “all other” immigration queue while keeping in place the R-1 visa cap of five years.

The department’s move has created massive backlogs of EB-4 applicants, meaning many R-1 visa holders nearing their five-year maximum, and who could not obtain permanent residency during that time, are in danger of losing their legal status and being forced to leave the country.

Once required to leave the country, R-1 visa holders must remain abroad for 12 months before returning, when a new five-year limit begins.

Some Catholics in the Diocese of Boise question the State Department’s 2023 merging of categories, specifically why it did not have the foresight to establish a separate visa category for religious workers to safeguard their status and prevent multi-year delays in obtaining green cards.

The rule poses challenges for Catholic parishes nationwide that depend on international priests to fill gaps left by declining vocations and a persistent clergy shortage.

For Batt, she first became aware of the problem while assisting the prior at Our Lady of Ephesus with what initially appeared to be a standard visa issue.

“Two years ago, I reached out to Sen. Risch’s staff for assistance with what I thought was a routine visa issue for a priest,” she told the ICR. “After in-depth research by a capable and dedicated staffer, they discovered a recent ‘reinterpretation’ of a rule under the Biden administration that impacted the visa category that includes foreign-born religious.”

Coordination began immediately with Risch’s D.C. office, the USCCB, Diocese of Boise immigration attorney Chris Christensen and Batt, on behalf of the Diocese of Boise, seeking relief from both the administrative and legislative branches of the federal government.

Batt praised Risch for helping develop a potential solution before other Idaho priests, many in small communities, are affected.

“We are so blessed to have Idaho Sen. Risch as an originating sponsor, as well as Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo as a sponsor of S. 1298 to get such relief,” she said. “Sen. Risch has been working diligently for two years on this issue.”

She added: “I covet your prayers for the good senator and his staff who have demonstrated the virtue of perseverance these past two years, for the holy religious who are walking in faith and trusting the Lord with a very unknown future and, finally, for Bishop Peter who has the looming challenge of administering a diocese with 22% fewer priests over the next four years if this issue is not resolved.”