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September 24, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – A new immigration procedure announced last month by the Biden Administration could provide a “smoother, simpler process” for spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to gain permanent legal status in the United States, Sister Attract Kelly, OP, JD, said. The process, Parole in Place, allows qualified spouses and stepchildren to apply directly through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) began on August 19, 2024. However, the process is temporarily halted while it is being challenged in the courts.
Sister Attracta, Director of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Immigrant Assistance and an immigration attorney, said in a September 13, 2024, presentation that the Parole in Place policy would allow approximately 55,000 immigrants to adjust their status while remaining in the United States.
Before the policy took effect, Sister Attracta explained, the only way for the undocumented immigrant spouse of a U.S. citizen to obtain permanent legal status “was to go back to [their] home country and maybe [they] might have to stay there for three years, even a year, or five years, or 10 years, or sometimes more,” until they could meet with a U.S. Consul in their home country. “So that’s why Parole in Place would make an enormous difference,” she said. “It would mean they would not have to worry about going back to their home country” and possibly not being allowed to return to the United States and their family.
However, Sister Attracta noted that the “Parole in Place” or “Keeping Families Together” process has been temporarily halted due to a lawsuit against Homeland Security by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and a coalition of 16 states. She praised undocumented immigrants and their families who found the courage to file a motion on August 26, 2024, to defend the plan.
Should Parole in Place be reinstated after the court case, the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Immigration Services will be available to help spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens begin the application process for permanent legal status. Call 517-266-3526.
Learn more about the immigration system and Parole in Place by watching the entire presentation.
September 23, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – In response to unfounded statements against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, made during and following the September 10, 2024, presidential debate, the Leadership Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement on behalf of Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates.
As we enter the final weeks of a national election in a deeply divided nation, with dangerous undercurrents of violence and threats to our democracy, we are deeply troubled by hateful language in political discourse – especially when fabricated to demonize immigrants. It not only violates their inherent dignity as persons made in the image of God but also places them and countless others in peril. This mean-spirited discourse is incendiary, giving rise to bomb threats that have closed or locked down schools, hospitals and other public spaces in our neighboring state of Ohio.
As women of faith who know and have worked with Haitians and many other migrants forced to leave beloved homes for the safety of their families, we are sickened and alarmed by the unfair, painful characterizations that endanger people already fleeing violence. In a nation gifted by the richness of our diversity, we pray for and are committed to building a beloved community.
We call on all candidates for public office, especially those seeking our nation’s highest office, to engage in civil discourse characterized by respect, decency, and basic human kindness. “In God’s hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of every human being” (Job 12:10).
Members of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Leadership Council include Sisters Bibiana Colasito, OP, General Councilor; Margaret Coyne, OP, Chapter Prioress; Sara Fairbanks, OP, Mission Prioress; Judith Friedel, OP, Chapter Prioress; Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation; Mary Jane Lubinski, OP, Mission Prioress; Marie Yolanda Manapsal, OP, Chapter Prioress; Frances Nadolny, OP, General Councilor; Mary Priniski, OP, Chapter Prioress; Lorraine Réaume, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor; and Mary Soher, OP, Mission Prioress.