Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is demanding answers from the Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) regarding a recent procedural change to green card rules that he fears will effectively force foreign-born religious workers out of the United States in favor of illegal immigrants.
The U.S. State Department changed its interpretation of a rule that prorated EB-4 visa allocation to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, announcing that tens of thousands of applications for neglected or abused minors from those countries were being placed in the wrong queue to await green cards, The Associated Press reported.
Because religious workers are also on EB-4 visas, Hawley raised concern that the rule change will negatively impact them when they attempt to renew their residency.
“It has come to my attention that a recent State Department rule created a massive backlog of employment-based, fourth preference category (EB-4) visas, which is adversely affecting faith-based employers in Missouri,” Hawley wrote in his Nov. 15 letter to CA Assistant Secretary Rena Bitter.