UDV church alleges religious rights violations in leader's immigration case
Phaedra Haywood, The Santa Fe New Mexican
5 min read
Oct. 28—A Santa Fe County church known for its use of a hallucinogenic tea has filed a federal lawsuit against the Homeland Security secretary, alleging the agency's failure to process immigration forms for the group's leader violates his religious rights.
Jose Carlos Garcia oversees nine U.S. congregations of Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal — better known as UDV. His official title is general representative mestre, according to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court.
The job requires Garcia to attend meetings, officiate religious services and mentor lower-level leaders around the world, the complaint states.
"It is of essential importance to [Garcia's] free exercise of religion that he be able to travel freely to attend to these essential religious activities," the complaint states.
It alleges U.S. Customs and Border Protection recently has been "unnecessarily confronting and delaying" Garcia's and his wife's entry to the U.S. at airports and demanding to see reentry permits.
The Garcias applied for reentry permits Jan. 3, the complaint says, but the petitions are still pending. The permits allow permanent residents to return to the U.S. after traveling abroad for up to two years without obtaining a visa. Recently, the pair were told they might not be allowed back in the U.S. without the permits if they leave again.
The couple, who have been permanent residents of the U.S. since December 2019, are among many people in recent years who have asked the U.S. District Court in Albuquerque for help getting immigration paperwork processed in a timely manner by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Dozens of similar complaints have been filed since 2021, according to online court records.
Court filings show voluntary dismissal of many of the cases, indicating they might have been resolved within months.
Among the complaints:
* An El Salvadorian woman said she had been unable to travel outside the U.S. to attend her father's funeral.
* A Brazilian architect who entered the country on a student visa to attend the University of New Mexico sought renewal of a permit allowing her to work legally.
* A Pakistani man with a master's degree in chemical engineering who worked for a biotechnology startup sought permission to work while his permanent residency was pending.
* An Austrian man who came to the U.S. to work as a research assistant professor at UNM sought a work permit while his request for permanent residency was pending.
* A high school graduate from China sought documentation allowing him to study and receive in-state-tuition at UNM.
* An Iranian man with permanent residency sought immigration documents for his wife and children.
* A nurse from the Philippines who worked for an Albuquerque hospital during the pandemic sought residency as the spouse of a U.S. citizen.
Attorneys representing UDV — and many of the plaintiffs in similar cases — did not respond to messages seeking comment.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security responded to an inquiry sent to its media email by saying the agency doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Garcia and his wife, who also is named as a plaintiff, travel in and out of the country frequently for his work with UDV but have never left for longer than six months, their complaint says. They pay taxes, own property, have drivers' licenses in the U.S. and are supporting their son, who is attending a U.S. college.
During Jose Carlos Garcia's most recent entry, Oct. 2 in Orlando, he was told if he did not have his reentry permit in hand before his next trip outside the U.S., he would be denied entry into the country and his status as a permanent resident would be "jeopardized," the complaint states.
Garcia has a commitment to be at meetings with UDV leadership in Brazil on Dec. 5 and to direct Christmas services at the UDV's center in Florida on Dec. 24, his lawsuit says. He's then expected back in Brazil on Jan. 6 for a ceremony in which his duties will be passed on to a successor — Mestre Jair Gabriel da Costa, the son of UDV founder Jose Gabriel da Costa.
The Garcias "are now terrified of traveling between the USA and Brazil," the complaint says.
It adds Jose Carlos Garcia "is being forced to make the impossible choice between fulfilling his sincerely held religious obligations ... and avoiding travel between the USA and Brazil until his I-131 is approved to protect his residency status."
The lawsuit, which asks the court to take jurisdiction over the case, declare the delay unlawful and direct the government to process the Garcias' permit applications by the end of November, cites a federal law that requires such paperwork to be processed within a "reasonable" time frame — in some instances as "no later than 180 days after filing."
The complaint names U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Ur Jaddou, and Citizenship and Immigration Services as defendants.
The UDV church won a federal court fight several years ago for the legal right to continue its practices, which include the use of hoasca, a tea made from two Amazonian plants containing the hallucinogenic drug DMT.
It later won another yearslong battle, this time against Santa Fe County and its neighbors in the Arroyo Hondo area south of Santa Fe who tried to prevent the construction of a temple.
The neighbors argued during the land use fight they were concerned about the project's water use, potential water contamination and traffic generated by the group's proposed late-night worship sessions.
The church claimed it was the victim of religious persecution that would not have been directed at a religious group more familiar to the community's residents.
