Camden, NJ — American Atheists filed a federal lawsuit today against the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to force the release of records regarding the agency’s oversight of religious organizations that bring workers into the country on R-1 religious worker visas. The complaint comes after nearly four years of stonewalling and delays by the agency.
“For years, the R-1 visa program has operated without adequate oversight, allowing faith-based entities to abuse and exploit workers,” said Nick Fish, President of American Atheists. “If the federal government refuses to do its job, we have no choice but to do it ourselves.”
“For all of Donald Trump’s tough talk about enforcing immigration law, it seems his administration has no interest in holding religious entities accountable when they’re the ones abusing the system and taking advantage of vulnerable people,” added Fish.
R-1 visas are intended to allow houses of worship and religious nonprofits to bring ministers and other religious workers into the United States, but the program has allegedly been used to exploit workers and engage in human trafficking. Federal agencies — including USCIS itself — have warned that the program is especially vulnerable to fraud.
In 2021, a group of Indian nationals sued BAPS, a Hindu denomination with a substantial presence in New Jersey, 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. Despite a years-long FBI inquiry, the Trump Administration shut down the investigation in September 2025 without bringing charges. In 2022, New York Magazine reported similar allegations against the Church of Scientology.
Following these revelations of abuse, American Atheists filed a FOIA request demanding records of the compliance reviews that USCIS was then required to conduct on every organization seeking to employ R-1 workers. After more than three years of stalling, the agency produced a single, heavily redacted spreadsheet in April of 2026.
The spreadsheet indicates that more records exist, including findings of “material misrepresentation.” However, USCIS produced none of the underlying records referenced in the spreadsheet and provided no reason for withholding them. In July of this year, American Atheists appealed. By law, decisions on appeals must be made within 20 days. Even so, more than three months have passed without a response.
“The Freedom of Information Act exists to allow Americans to demand transparency and accountability from our government,” said Geoffrey T. Blackwell, Legal Director for American Atheists. “Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of this administration flouting the law and enabling the abuse of vulnerable people at the hands of religious groups.”
American Atheists’ lawsuit comes as FOIA compliance continues to break down throughout the Trump Administration. A recent Washington Post review found that at least 13 agencies, including USCIS, have told courts that the administration’s own workforce cuts have caused them to miss deadlines required by law. The Trump Administration is also asking the Supreme Court to rule that Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is not subject to FOIA at all.
Today’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, asks the court to order USCIS to conduct a complete search and produce all responsive records.
