Text size:

Minister, a German citizen, caught in immigration tangle

BY DAVE MARCUS | dave.marcus@newsday.com

September 30, 2008

Preaching in a Lutheran church in Franklin Square on Sundays, the Rev. Haiko Behrens speaks in English and German about the importance of love, mercy and compassion.

Now he's asking others to show him love, mercy and compassion.

Behrens, 38, is caught in a bureaucratic tangle. A German citizen, he's waiting for permission from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to stay in the country after his temporary visa expires in 4½ weeks.

Lawyers say that the government almost always gives quick permission for religious leaders to stay and apply for a green card. But Behrens has been seeking a response from the immigration service since the Ascension Lutheran Church put in its request 15 months ago.

The immigration service doesn't comment on specific cases, but anyone with a problem should contact an agent, said spokeswoman Chris Rhatigan in Washington. "We don't want anyone to sit out there in limbo."

Behrens said he keeps getting put on hold or transferred to clerks who say they can't help him.

If he doesn't get the government's OK, he must abandon his job and start packing his bags by Saturday because his contract at the church requires him to give a month's notice before quitting.

"I love the people here, I love New York, I love the country -- otherwise I wouldn't do all this to stay," Behrens said Friday, after another frustrating day of waiting. As he does every few hours, he tapped a few keys on his computer to check the progress of his request.

"Received and pending," the response said. Again.

Conflicting information
After Behrens graduated from a seminary in Germany four years ago, he moved to a church in Michigan with his wife, Rie, who is Japanese. They had a temporary visa for religious workers that was valid until the fall of 2008 -- or so they thought.

On their return from a visit to relatives in Germany in 2006, a U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement officer told them they needed to apply for an extension of their visa, even though it still had two years left.

After getting conflicting advice from immigration lawyers and government agencies, they flew to Germany to ask the U.S. Consulate in Berlin for help. There, they were told their visas were fine.

"He's got a lot of energy, deep dedication to proclaiming the gospel of Jesus, and he's tremendously compassionate and present with his people," said the Rev. Robert Rimbo, bishop of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He ordained Behrens when they both served in Michigan.

Richard Gerbe, president of the congregation in Franklin Square, said Behrens was hired in 2007 in part because he connected with congregation members who are European immigrants. "He's a perfect fit, and he relates well to young and old alike."

Paperwork and threats
Behrens tells of a continuing bureaucratic nightmare, with the immigration service demanding more papers and accusing him and his wife of illegally leaving Michigan, even though they had copies of certified letters they'd sent to inform the immigration service that they were moving to Long Island.

At one point, the immigration service sent a letter to Michigan threatening to deport Rie, who has a visa issued to spouses of religious workers. By the time the letter was forwarded to Long Island, Rie had 10 days to leave the country.

It took calls from the office of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton before the immigration service agreed that Rie Behrens had properly informed the government of her move from Michigan to New York. She was allowed to stay.

If his visa expires on Nov. 5, he and his wife and their beagle, Mona, will reluctantly leave to look for a ministry in another country, he said. He doesn't want to stay illegally, though he does take some consolation from the Bible. "According to Matthew," he said, "Jesus was an illegal immigrant to Egypt."