A second Des Moines priest sues Homeland Security over work authorization

A second Roman Catholic priest from the Diocese of Des Moines has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over alleged delays in work authorization permits.

Father Nipin Thakidipurathu Scaria, a citizen of India who now resides in Des Moines, is suing Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow, and Thomas Schuurmans, the director of CIS’s Nebraska Service Center, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

According to the lawsuit, Scaria — known to parishioners as “Father Nivin,” was admitted to the United States several years ago on an R-1 visa, which is a temporary visa for foreign nationals entering the country to work in a religious capacity.

According to court records, Scaria’s employment authorization to work in the United States was initially set to expire on March 30, 2025, but in October 2024, he received notice of an automatic 540-day extension — meaning his authorization would expire on Sept. 21, 2026, unless U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services first acted on his application for a work permit.

Since then, no action has been taken, the lawsuit asserts.

“If Father Nivin loses work authorization, he will be unable to perform his religious duties to his parish as a priest of the Roman Catholic Church,” the lawsuit states. “If Father Nivin loses work authorization, he will be required to stop work at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines in his position as rector of St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines. This abrupt halt to his work authorization will interfere with religious services for the diocese.”

Federal law suggests the processing of such an application should be completed no later than 180 days after the initial filing of the application.

“Clearly, Congress did not contemplate an adjudication time of over a year,” the lawsuit states. “There is no reasonable justification for these delays and inactions… It is unreasonable for (Scaria) to abruptly stop his work for the Catholic Church and this impairs the free exercise of religion for the church (and its) parishioners.”

The lawsuit asks the court to assume jurisdiction over the matter, set the matter for an expedited hearing, and order U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to process his application.

The U.S. Department of Justice has yet to file a response to the lawsuit on behalf of the defendants.

Other priest’s lawsuit is dropped

In July, a priest from Nigeria, Father Sylvester Okoh, filed a similar lawsuit against the same defendants.

According to that lawsuit, Okoh was initially admitted to the United States on an R-1 visa. In November 2022, with his previously granted employment authorization set to expire on January 25, 2025, Okoh allegedly filed an application to adjust his residency status. In September 2024, CIS issued a notice indicating Okoh’s work authorization would be automatically extended 540 days to July 19, 2026.

With that expiration date only three days away, Okoh sued, citing the threat to his religious duties as a priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Des Moines.

That lawsuit contended that CIS had delayed action on Okoh’s application based on the agency’s December 2025 policy memoranda placing an indefinite hold on pending benefit applications from nationals of Nigeria and 38 other countries the Trump administration designated as “high risk.”

Earlier this week, Okoh’s attorney dismissed the lawsuit, informing the court that the defendants, without ever responding to the lawsuit itself, had processed Okoh’s application.