"Boston Globe's" take on Brackettville? Heh, heh! :)


"Probe finds churches' visa program riddled with fraud"


"Program primarily used by the Catholic Church"


Adapted from Charlie Savage, Globe Staff, July 11, 2006.

"WASHINGTON -- A special visa program that allows churches to bring thousands of foreign religious workers into the country each year is riddled with fraud, an investigation by the Department of Homeland Security investigation has found.

"More than a third of the visas examined by investigators were based on fraudulent information.

""The US government issues several thousand religious worker visas each year.

"There are two types: temporary three - year visas, and green cards that allow foreigners to become permanent residents.

"The Homeland Security study looked only at petitions for green cards, but the report noted that the three - year visa program faces identical fraud risks.

"The program dates back to 1990, and it has primarily been used by the Catholic Church.

"The Catholic Church, for example, needs the program because not enough Americans are choosing a religious vocation.

"Margaret Perron, director of religious immigration services for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, said that there are 100,000 fewer nuns in the United States than there were 40 years ago, and one in ten parishes is without a resident priest..."