By TIFFANY STANLEY and GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO

WASHINGTON (AP) — At a time of tightening immigration restrictions, the Department of Homeland Security is attempting to make it easier for visa-holding religious workers to serve their U.S. congregations with less disruption.

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DHS announced on Wednesday a regulatory change aimed at reducing visa wait times abroad for the foreign nationals many U.S. religious communities depend on to serve as pastors, priests, nuns, imams and rabbis. These religious workers face a yearslong backlog to obtain legal permanent U.S. residency, but congregations can bring them into the country on temporary visas called R-1.

DHS introduced a fix to one issue affecting clergy that advocates had requested — removing the requirement for R-1 religious workers to leave the U.S. for one year after reaching their five-year visa maximum. That visa time used to be plenty to get a green card, but in 2023 the government made a change in processing that lengthened it so much most had to leave the country. Now, they will still need to depart the U.S. but can apply to re-enter right away.

“We are taking the necessary steps to ensure religious organizations can continue delivering the services that Americans depend on,” the DHS statement said. “Pastors, priests, nuns, and rabbis are essential to the social and moral fabric of this country. We remain committed to finding ways to support and empower these organizations in their critical work.”

Immigration attorneys and faith leaders welcome new rule

The DHS rule loosens an immigration restriction at a time when the Trump administration has tightened many other immigration pathways. The DHS statement emphasized a commitment to protecting religious freedom and minimizing disruptions to faith-based communities.

“It’s a huge deal,” said Lance Conklin, a Maryland immigration attorney who represents evangelical churches with R1 visa holders. “It would potentially allow people not to disrupt the organization by having someone have to leave for a year, because that’s a major imposition now.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called it a “truly significant step to support essential religious services in the United States.”

In a joint statement, Archbishop Paul Coakley, the USCCB president, and Bishop Brendan Cahill, chair of the USCCB committee on migration, expressed their gratitude for the administration’s work on the issue. “The value of the Religious Worker Visa Program and our appreciation for the efforts undertaken to support it cannot be overstated.”

“Hallelujah!” said Olga Rojas, immigration counsel for the Archdiocese of Chicago. “We’re happy the administration made this change. It is helpful to us so we don’t have to lose valued religious workers that are contributing so much to our parishes and schools.”

The U.S. Catholic Church has long relied on foreign-born clergy amid a priest shortage. Other traditions, ranging from Buddhism to Pentecostal Christianity, also recruit foreign-born clergy to serve growing non-English-speaking congregations or because they have specialized training from international institutions steeped in the religion’s history.

A 2023 change extended wait times

The five-year R1 visa used to provide enough time for congregations to petition for green cards under a special category called EB-4, which would allow the clergy to become permanent residents.

Congress sets a quota of green cards available per year divided into categories, almost all based on types of employment or family relationships to U.S. citizens. In most categories, the demand exceeds the annual quota.

Citizens of countries with especially high demand get put in separate, often longer “lines,” where it can take decades to process applications.

Also in a separate line were migrant children with “Special Immigrant Juvenile Status” — neglected or abused minors — from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Hundreds of thousands sought humanitarian green cards or asylum after illegally crossing into the U.S. since the mid-2010s, though the Trump administration recently cracked down on the program.

In March 2023, the State Department under President Joe Biden suddenly started adding the minors to the general green card queue with the clergy.

It created new backlogs that threatened the ability of religious workers to remain in the United States. No exact numbers exist, but it is estimated that thousands of religious workers are backlogged in the green card system or haven’t been able to apply yet.

In summer 2024, the Catholic Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey, and five of its affected priests sued DHS, the Department of State and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The lawsuit argued that the 2023 change “will cause severe and substantial disruption to the lives and religious freedoms” of the priests and the faithful they serve. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed in fall 2025 “to allow for Agency action and/or rulemaking that will render moot the relief Plaintiffs sought from the Court,” according to court documents.

In spring 2025, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate and House calling for a small fix similar to Wednesday’s DHS rule, allowing for an extension of religious workers’ visas as long as their green card application is pending.

Dell’Orto reported from Minneapolis.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

By JONEL ALECCIA

At least 45 people in nearly two dozen states have been sickened with salmonella food poisoning tied to a brand of “super greens” diet supplement powder, federal health officials said Wednesday.

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Superfoods Inc., which makes Live it Up-brand Super Greens powder, recalled products including its original and wild berry flavors with expiration dates of August 2026 to January 2028. Consumers should not eat, sell or serve the products and should throw them away or return to the place of purchase.

lllnesses tied to the supplement were reported from Aug. 22 to Dec. 30, 2025. At least 12 people were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The products were distributed nationwide. Case have been reported in 21 states: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

An FDA investigation is continuing and additional products could be contaminated, the agency said.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning usually start within hours or days of eating a contaminated food product. They include diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. Most people recover without treatment within a week, but infections can be serious in children younger than 5, adults 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Renaming the Department of Defense the Department of War could cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $125 million depending on how broadly and quickly the change is made, according to an analysis released Wednesday from the Congressional Budget Office.

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order in September that authorized the Department of War as a secondary title for the Pentagon. At the time, Trump said the switch was intended to signal to the world that the U.S. was a force to be reckoned with, and he complained that the Department of Defense’s name was “woke.”

Indeed, the order came as the military began its campaign of deadly airstrikes against alleged drug-carrying boats in South America. Since then, a stunning military operation has captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the Trump administration has threatened military action in places from Iran to Greenland.

Congress has to formally approve a new name for the department, and it has shown no serious interest in doing so. Nevertheless, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth embraced the rebrand and proceeded to use it immediately on several signs after Trump’s order.

He had employees remove the large gold letters that spelled “Secretary of Defense” outside his office and replaced the sign on his door to read “Secretary of War.” The Pentagon’s website also went from “defense.gov” to “war.gov” the same day the executive order was signed.

Pentagon officials said then that they could not offer a cost estimate for the name change because they expected costs to fluctuate. They promised a clearer estimate later.

The new report from the Congressional Budget Office says costs would be at least a few million dollars if the name change was phased in with minimal implementation, but could reach $125 million if it was implemented broadly and rapidly throughout the department.”

The assessment said it would cost roughly $10 million for a “modest implementation” of the executive order if the name change happened within the agency, and such a cost would most likely be absorbed within the Pentagon’s existing budgets.

“A statutory renaming could cost hundreds of millions of dollars,” depending on how Congress and the Defense Department choose to to do it, the report says.

The Pentagon has more than 6.5 million square feet of office space, and many of the signs, logos and seals have remained unchanged. It is not clear if the push to alter the Defense Department’s name has been carried out at the numerous military facilities across the world.

Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Mike Lee, Rick Scott and Marsha Blackburn, introduced legislation to make the name change official shortly after Trump signed the executive order but the measure has not progressed.

The order had tasked Hegseth with recommending actions required to change the name permanently. Pentagon officials did not answer questions about what, if any, recommendations have been made.

The new analysis was requested by Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.

Lawmakers established the Congressional Budget Office more than 50 years ago to provide impartial analysis to support the budget process.

By MIKE STOBBE

NEW YORK (AP) — Federal officials are reinstating hundreds of U.S. health workers who were laid off last year from a small health agency that aims to protect workers.

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In April, President Donald Trump’s administration gutted the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, where scientists, engineers and others conduct research and recommend ways to prevent work-related injury, illness, disability and death.

Government officials laid off close to 900 of NIOSH’s 1,000 employees. The layoffs were part of the Republican president’s remaking of the federal workforce led by then-adviser Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, but they drew harsh rebukes from firefighters, coal miners, medical equipment manufacturers and a range of others.

Some employees were brought back last year amid legal challenges and political pressure, including those who staffed a health monitoring program for miners in West Virginia. But now all the terminations have been rescinded, according to the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents workers at NIOSH and parts of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The administration’s attempt to lay off nearly every NIOSH worker was shameful and illegal, considering that much of NIOSH’s work is required by law,” AFGE national president Everett Kelley said in a statement.

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesman on Wednesday confirmed that laid-off NIOSH employees were being reinstated.

“The Trump Administration is committed to protecting essential services — whether it’s supporting coal miners and firefighters through NIOSH, safeguarding public health through lead prevention, or researching and tracking the most prevalent communicable diseases,” spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement.

Nixon did not respond to questions about how many workers were being reinstated, why the workers were laid off or why HHS decided to rescind the layoffs. It’s unclear how many of the laid-off NIOSH workers have taken other jobs or decided to retire and won’t be returning, officials said.

It’s likely that many have moved on and won’t be returning, said Michael Barasch, an attorney who represents 9/11 survivors and their families. He has helped clients enroll in the NIOSH World Trade Center Health Program that provides medical monitoring and treatment.

He described the NIOSH layoffs and their impact as “horrifying.” More agency workers may be coming back now, but the layoffs last year delayed diagnosis and treatment and it’s likely that “people died because of these cuts,” he said.

At the end of last year, the CDC had about 10,800 full-time workers, or about 20% fewer than the number with the agency before the April layoffs began, according to the CDC.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.