Tenacre Foundation v. INS, Civ. A. No. 95-945 SSH.

• Decision Date: 13 July 1995
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 95-945 SSH.
• Citation: 892 F. Supp. 289
• Parties: TENACRE FOUNDATION, Plaintiff, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE of the United States, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

892 F. Supp. 289

TENACRE FOUNDATION, Plaintiff, v. IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICE of the United States, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 95-945 SSH.

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

July 13, 1995.

Lawrence P. Lataif, Sr., Fort Lauderdale, FL, Washington, DC, for plaintiff.

Marina U. Braswell, Asst. U.S. Atty., Washington, DC, for defendants.

OPINION

STANLEY S. HARRIS, District Judge.

This matter comes before the Court on plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction. The Court finds that, although plaintiff has shown a significant likelihood of success on the merits, plaintiff has not shown that it will suffer any irreparable harm absent preliminary injunctive relief. Plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction is therefore denied.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Tenacre Foundation ("Tenacre") is a Christian Science facility located in Princeton, New Jersey. Tenacre was founded in 1935; in 1941, Tenacre expanded its facilities to include a school of Christian Science nursing. A Christian Science nurse is not a nurse in the medical sense of the word. Rather, a Christian Science nurse is engaged in a religious ministry, characterized by religious service and the spiritual healing of the ill. Thus, Tenacre selects its nurses not based on any prior technical medical experience, but based upon a demonstrated commitment to the Christian Science faith and to the tenets of Christian Science nursing. Tenacre selects its nurses from members of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, some of whom are foreign nationals.

On May 17, 1993, plaintiff filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service ("INS") a Form I-129 Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker. Plaintiff sought a status change for James Kihu, a native of Kenya, from an F-1 student visa to an R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker visa. Plaintiff requested the status change so that Kihu could "continue his on-the-job training in the religious occupation of Christian Science nursing, while concurrently continuing his extensive preparation for becoming a Christian Science nurse." Administrative Record (hereinafter "A.R.") at 165. Kihu had been employed with Tenacre for almost a year prior to Tenacre's petition for status change. The Director of the INS Eastern Service Center ("ESC") denied plaintiff's petition on June 28, 1993, taking the position that Kihu was "training" to be a Christian Science nurse and was therefore not "fully qualified" for the religious occupation he was to enter into at Tenacre. A.R. at 155.

Plaintiff twice moved the ESC to reopen and to reconsider the June, 1993, determination, each time providing new affidavits of persons affiliated with the Tenacre facility, including the president of Tenacre, regarding Kihu's status and role at Tenacre.¹ A.R. at 132-33. Plaintiff's July, 1993, petition to reopen and to reconsider was granted, but the Director affirmed his June, 1993, decision. The Director again concluded that plaintiff "was seeking the beneficiary as a trainee," that plaintiff therefore was not yet "fully qualified" to be a Christian Science nurse, and that the INS regulations applicable to applicants for an R-1 visa required a showing that the applicant be "qualified to perform the duties of the traditional religious occupation." A.R. at 130. Since the Director determined Kihu to be a "trainee," it was concluded that Kihu could not qualify for an R-1 visa under the applicable INS regulations. Id.

Plaintiff's November, 1993, motion to reopen and for reconsideration likewise was granted, but the decision to deny Kihu an R-1 visa again was affirmed. On December 9, 1993, the Director of the ESC again determined that Kihu had not yet "become a Christian Science nurse" and that Kihu must be "fully qualified to perform the duties of a traditional religious occupation" before he was eligible to receive an R-1 visa. A.R. at 40. The December, 1993, decision of the ESC was certified to the Administrative Appeals Unit ("AAU") of the INS, and in September, 1994, plaintiff requested an expedited decision in the case of Kihu's application. A.R. at 24.

On October 11, 1994, the AAU affirmed the decision of the ESC and denied Tenacre's petition for an R-1 visa for Kihu. The AAU rather inexplicably determined that Kihu "did not qualify as a nurse" and "would not be working in an active religious role," because Tenacre's visa petition "was filed to employ the beneficiary as a nurse's aide." A.R. at 3. Additionally, or perhaps alternatively, the AAU determined that "the offered position of nurse's aide ... does not qualify as a religious occupation which relates to a traditional religious function." A.R. at 4.

On May 19, 1995, plaintiff filed this suit against the INS. Plaintiff alleged in its complaint that the INS adopted unlawful regulations and interpreted those regulations so as preclude entry-level Christian Science nurses from obtaining R-1 visas, in violation of section 209 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 (Supp.1995) ("INA"), the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, Pub.L. No. 103-141, 107 Stat. 1488 (1993) ("RFRA"), the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq. ("APA"), the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, and the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. Plaintiff challenges one regulation in particular, § 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(r)(3)(ii)(C)(3), contending that the regulation in effect imposes a prior qualification requirement upon an applicant for an R-1 visa, which requirement does not exist in the INA.

On June 14, 1995, plaintiff filed a motion for preliminary injunction. Defendants filed an opposition in the form of a motion for summary judgment on June 30, 1995. Plaintiff filed a reply on July 6, 1995, requesting an extension of time within which to file its opposition to defendant's motion for summary judgment until twenty days after the Court's decision on its motion for a preliminary injunction. The Court held a hearing on plaintiff's motion for a preliminary injunction on July 7, 1995.

II. ANALYSIS

Injunctive relief is an extraordinary remedy, and the party seeking it bears a substantial burden. American Coastal Line Joint Venture v. United States Lines, Inc., 580 F.Supp. 932, 935 (D.D.C.1983). This Circuit has adopted a four-part test to determine whether a preliminary injunction should be granted. Plaintiffs must demonstrate that (1) they are likely to prevail on the merits; (2) they will suffer irreparable harm absent the injunction; (3) an injunction would not substantially impair the rights of the defendants or other interested parties; and (4) an injunction would be in the public interest, or at least would not be adverse to the public interest. Sea Containers Ltd. v. Stena AB, 890 F.2d 1205, 1208 (D.C.Cir. 1989); Washington Metro. Area Transit Comm'n v. Holiday Tours, Inc., 559 F.2d 841, 842-44 (D.C.Cir.1977).

A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits

Section 101(a)(15)(R) of the INA provides that an alien may be classified as a "nonimmigrant alien" and receive a temporary R-1 visa if he or she

(i) for the 2 years immediately preceding the time of application for admission has been a member of a religious organization having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States; and

(ii) seeks to enter the United States for a period not to exceed 5 years to perform the work described in subclause (I), (II), or (III) of paragraph 27(C)(ii).

The three subclauses referred to in § 1101(a)(15)(R), codified in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(C)(ii), provide that an immigrant may be classified as a special immigrant admitted for permanent residence in the United States if he has been a member for two years or more of a religious denomination having a bona fide nonprofit, religious organization in the United States and if he seeks to enter the United States

(I) solely for the purpose of carrying on the vocation of a minister of that religious denomination;

(II) before October 1, 1997, in order to work for the organization at the request of the organization in a professional capacity in a religious vocation or occupation; or

(III) before October 1, 1997, in order to work for the organization ... at the request of the organization in a religious vocation or occupation.

In addition to these requirements, an immigrant may only be classified as a special immigrant eligible for permanent residence under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(C)(ii) if that person also has been practicing his religious vocation or professional work continuously for the two-year period preceding his application. 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(27)(C)(iii). This extra requirement is not present in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15)(R), the statute applicable to temporary R-1 visas; for an applicant to obtain an R-1 visa, the statute requires only that the applicant be a member of a recognized religious organization for more than two years, and that the applicant be coming to the United States for a period of five years or less, to work "in a religious occupation or vocation." These two provisions — § 1101(a)(15)(R) and § 1101(a)(27)(C)(ii)— were simultaneously passed by Congress as part of the Immigration Act of 1990.

The INS has promulgated regulations applicable to the Immigration Act of 1990 and to the issuance of R-1 visas. 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(r)(3) (1995) provides that an alien seeking classification as a nonimmigrant religious worker must present evidence showing, first, that the alien will be performing services for a bona fide nonprofit religious organization, and second, that the alien meets the criteria to perform such services.

More specifically, § 214.2(r)(3)(ii)(C)(3) provides that the organization seeking to employ the alien must show (among other things) that "if the alien is to work in another religious vocation or occupation, he or she is qualified in the religious vocation or occupation. Evidence of such qualifications may include, but need not be limited to, evidence establishing that the...