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BREAKING: Our team at @atheists.org has just sued the US Citizenship and Immigration Services for failing to respond to our oversight requests seeking information about abuses of the R-1 "religious workers" visa program.

atheists.orgAmerican Atheists Sues USCIS Over Religious Visas Linked to Human Trafficking | American AtheistsAmerican Atheists is seeking information related to R-1 visas, a program that the government itself acknowledges is vulnerable to fraud and abuse.

Nick Fish

@nickfish.me

After multiple stories broke showing how the government has failed to supervise this program, we sought information from USCIS. This visa program is supposed to be for faith leaders and other religious workers. Instead, it's been used to traffic and exploit vulnerable people.

20/10/26, 7:41 pm0 reposts2 likes

Nick Fish

@nickfish.me

In 2021, a group of Indian nationals sued BAPS, alleging that the group used R-1 visas to bring them to the U.S., confiscated their passports and documents, and forced them to build its Robbinsville temple while paying them just $1.20 an hour.

nytimes.comHindu Sect Is Accused of Using Forced Labor to Build N.J. Temple (Published 2021)

Nick Fish

@nickfish.me

New York Magazine ran a story a short time later exposing how Scientology was engaging in similar behavior, allegedly paying people just $25 a week to perform "arduous physical labor, including digging trenches, cleaning toilets and dumpsters, and landscaping."

nymag.comHow Scientology Exploits Foreign WorkersThe church has used an obscure visa to bring in thousands of laborers — and benefit from their toil.

Nick Fish

@nickfish.me

Obviously, we want to know how USCIS is engaging in oversight to ensure these visas are not being abused and to ensure workers are being protected. With this program, it's clear they aren't. And their refusal to provide even basic transparency here is par for the course for this administration.

Nick Fish

@nickfish.me

We're suing to get access to these records so we can ensure this program is being administered fairly and in compliance with the law. We have no reason to believe that it is and the government's stalling only reinforces that belief.