SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico branch of a church that uses hallucinogenic tea as a sacrament is suing the federal government for failing to process immigration documents for one of its religious leaders.
O Centro Espirita Beneficente União do Vegetal filed a lawsuit last week in U.S. District Court over claims of religious discrimination, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
The lawsuit comes after José Carlos Garcia, a Brazilian man who has led the church’s Florida congregation since 2013, applied for visas that would allow him and his family to continue living in the United States while their immigration cases are pending.
But the federal agencies responsible for processing their applications have left the family in legal limbo. Some applications have been pending for two years, according to the suit.
This has prevented Garcia from traveling to religious meetings outside the United States, infringing on his religious freedom, the lawsuit said.
