Two U.S. immigration amendments extended
March 12, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Congress has extended two immigration-related laws that impact the Jewish community.

On Wednesday evening, the Senate passed an extension through Sept. 30 of the Religious Worker Visa Program, portions of which had expired on March 6. The program makes as many as 5,000 permanent immigrant visas available each year for religious workers employed by various denominations, and is particularly helpful to small Jewish communities in remote areas who have difficulty hiring rabbis, cantors and Hebrew school teachers.

The House has already passed an identical bill and the extension will go into effect once it is signed by the president.

"This is an important step in ensuring that the Jewish community can keep the dedicated and experienced teachers and other foreign religious workers that we rely on,â€