What We're Talking About

Documented Uncovers How Scientology Abuses Immigrant Labor

This past week, URL Media partner Documented, in collaboration with New York Magazine, published a bombshell investigation into the Church of Scientology’s use of the R-1 visa program.

In short, the R-1 visa program allows people from across the globe to come to the United States to serve as ministers, or in religious vocations or occupations, at the request of a nonprofit religious organization.

According to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, foreign-born religious workers provide crucial community services such as caring for and ministering to the sick, aged, and dying in hospitals and special facilities; counseling those who have suffered trauma and/or hardship; offering religious instruction; and helping refugees and immigrants in the United States adjust to a new way of life among other duties.

However, the Church of Scientology used the R-1 visa program to boost its membership numbers and exploit the labor of those whose visas were approved.

“Every former Scientologist I spoke with who came from a foreign country told me that, after they arrived at a U.S. org, they had their passports, visas, and other travel and identifying documents taken by church officials,” New York Magazine's Kevin T. Dugan wrote. 

The R-1 visa recipients he spoke with said they were made to do hard manual labor such as construction work, cleaning toilets and dumpsters, and landscaping once they arrived at the church site in Florida. They were paid between $8 to $50 per week. 

1. How did this story come to be?
Dugan said in a piece published in conjunction with the investigation that this story was a year in the making. It started with a “kind of a strange” tip that was sent to Documented editor Max Siegelbaum, then handed off to Dugan to track down. That tip was sent from a former Scientologist—a person who is not from the U.S.—who said the church relies heavily on immigrant labor since it is so hard to recruit workers in the States.

2. How did the church respond?
The church unequivocally denied the allegations levied against it. The church’s spokesperson also claimed the people who spoke with Dugan were engaged in a “coordinated and premeditated conspiracy to level false allegations.” 

3. Hasn’t the Church of Scientology been sued over alleged worker abuse before?
Yes. Marc and Claire Headley, a married American couple, sued the church for human trafficking in 2009. A federal judge in California dismissed the case on the grounds that the church was protected by a ministerial exception to labor laws. The Ninth Circuit upheld the ruling, saying that the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, the statute under which the lawsuit was filed, pertained to “transnational crime.”

4. Did the church profit from its use of the R-1 visa program?
Yes, though it’s hard to say by how much. Dugan spoke with specialists in wage-theft law who estimated the church’s use of immigrant labor over the past 30 years has saved the organization hundreds of millions of dollars—and possibly more than $1 billion.

5. What’s going to happen now?
There is a lawsuit filed by three former Scientology members moving through the judicial system right now that alleges the church violated laws against trafficking, forced labor, peonage, and conspiracy.

It is unclear what the outcome of this suit might be, and the church is pushing to move the case to arbitration. Dugan spoke with immigration expert Michael Wildes, who has served as a federal prosecutor. Wildes says the federal government could further investigate the issue to potentially bring justice to the victims.

Take some time this weekend and read the full investigation at Documented. —Alicia Ramirez

Uplift. Respect. Love.

 Uplifting our Communities 

 Respecting & Honoring Arts & Culture

 Centering Love 

 What We're Loving This Week From Our Partners 

 The URLs on URL 

URL Media Events 

 Our Founders 

 Our Partners