What's Happening

November 19, 2024, Lansing, Michigan – Thirteen Adrian Dominican Sisters and Co-workers were among more than 180 advocates at Michigan’s State Capitol on November 12, 2024, calling for the passage of a set of bills that would restore the right of all Michigan residents – including undocumented immigrants – to apply for a driver’s license. 

The Drive SAFE (Safety, Access, Freedom, and Economy) bill package would make non-commercial Michigan driver’s licenses and state identification cards available to applicants who do not have proof of U.S. citizenship or immigration status. The legislation also provides that all drivers be trained, screened and tested, and required to carry auto insurance, enhancing the safety of Michigan roads. The involved bills include Senate Bills 265, 266, and 267, and House Bills 4410, 4411, and 4412.

The bills have the support of communities of Catholic Sisters in Michigan. “As women of faith we support this legislation because it honors the inherent dignity of all persons and supports the safety and welfare of all Michigan residents,” the Sisters said in a joint statement issued on the day of the advocacy. They added that having driver’s licenses and state IDs gives residents the ability to care for their families and get to and from work or school without fear of being arrested, detained, and deported.

The coalition of advocates was organized by Strangers No Longer (SNL), a network based in southeastern Michigan which, inspired by Catholic social teaching, provides “education, direct support, and advocacy to promote humane immigration policies.”

SNL organized a similar Advocacy Day in Lansing in February 2023 for the Drive SAFE bills, which never made it out of the committee and were never brought to the floor for a vote.

This year’s Advocacy Day involved an opening talk with Senator Stephanie Chang (D.-District 3), co-sponsor of SB 267; team visits to assigned legislators; talks with the advocates by supportive legislators; and an afternoon visit to the House Chambers. 

Michigan State Senator Sarah Anthony (D-District 21), second from left, addresses, from left, Sisters Joyce Caulfield, OP, Sharon Weber, OP, and JoAnn Fleischaker, OP.
 

Members of the Adrian Dominican contingent included Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, an immigration attorney and Director of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Immigration Assistance, as well as Sisters Joyce Caulfield, OP, Dorothy Dempsey, OP, JoAnn Fleischaker, OP, Virginia King, OP, Patricia Leonard, OP, Carleen Maly, OP, Joanne Peters, OP, June Racicot, OP, Beverly Stark, OP, and Sharon Weber, OP. 

In addition, two Co-workers from the Office of Immigration Assistance participated. Laura Negron-Terrones, office manager, joined the Adrian Dominican Sisters, while Sarah Nash, an attorney and an Associate of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM), attended with the IHM Sisters from Monroe, Michigan.

In an interview after the Advocacy Day, several members of the Adrian Dominican contingent spoke of their experience in Lansing, their commitment to immigrants, and the urgency of passing the Drive SAFE bills. 

“There’s very little time” to pass the Drive SAFE package, said Sister Attracta. Once the legislators return from their Thanksgiving break, they’ll have only two weeks in December to pass the bills. “The lame duck session is the only chance they have to get it passed,” she said.

Many of the Sisters see the need for the legislation in their work with immigrants. Sister Carleen, Director of the Adrian Rea Literacy Center in Adrian, said many of the adult learners who come to the center are hampered by not having a driver’s license. “They’re fearful every time they get into the car,” she said. She is also struck by “the number of wives and mothers who may have a car in their driveway, and it’s working fine, but the women are fearful even to get into the car and drive their child to the doctor.”

Sister Attracta has also seen the difficulty that her clients face through their inability to obtain a driver’s license. One client, she said, was driving home late from work during a snowstorm and was stopped because snow covered his license plate. He was given a ticket and told to report to the court. An officer of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was waiting for him at court, arrested him, and put him in detention. 

“That all happens because they don’t have a driver’s license,” Sister Attracta said. “That’s why we got involved in this in the first place, because we know what people are going through.”

Sister June was motivated to be involved in the Advocacy Day through her experience in ministering in Georgia. “We had a center that assisted people in poverty,” she said. “When Hispanics came, they wanted a translation of the driver’s manual.” At that time, she said, undocumented immigrants were permitted to apply for a driver’s license. “When I heard they couldn’t do this in Michigan, I thought I wanted to do this for them,” she said. 

Sister JoAnn has been involved for years in advocacy for immigrants. “I became interested in immigration when I went to Chicago and was in a group called Sisters and Brothers of Immigrants,” she said. “We met monthly and did advocacy and public demonstrations. Sister Dot, and Sister Anne Guinan, OP, also participated in early morning prayer on Fridays in front of the deportation center in Chicago.

Advocates in Lansing found encouragement from their experience. One legislative visit was with Senator Sarah Anthony (D-District 21). “She was totally delighted that we were there because she was a co-signer of the bill,” Sister Attracta said. 

Sister Carleen found hope from talking with a staff member of Senator Jeremy Moss (D-District 7), also a co-sponsor of the bill. “My heart just got a little more excited,” she said.

Sister Attracta also found hope from the presence of so many advocates at the state capitol. “Just seeing that many people willing to give up their day and drive to Lansing” was encouraging, she said. 

Feature photo at top: Adrian Dominican participants in the Strangers No Longer Advocacy Day in Lansing were, seated, from left, Sister Patricia Leonard, OP; Co-worker Laura Negron-Terrones; and Sisters Attracta Kelly, OP, Dorothy Dempsey, OP, June Racicot, OP, and Beverly Stark, OP, and standing in back, from left, Sisters Virginia “Ginny” King, OP, JoAnne Fleischaker, OP, Joanne Peters, OP, Joyce Caulfield, OP, Carleen Maly, OP, and Sharon Weber, OP.

Chicago, December 11, 2023 – Two Adrian Dominican Sisters were among 150 attendees of the Alliance Against Human Trafficking conference who shared ideas about their efforts to end the scourge of human trafficking.

Begun in 2013 as U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking, the organization celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. It changed its name to Alliance Against Human Trafficking to be more inclusive of the many allies in the Sisters’ efforts against human trafficking.

Human trafficking – the forced, fraudulent, or coerced exploitation of human beings in labor or commercial sex – is an illegal trade that afflicts women, children, and men. Polaris Project, a national anti-human trafficking organization, puts the number of people who are trafficked at 25 million worldwide. “It’s a big, $1.5 billion operation,” said Sister Patricia McDonald, OP, adding that human trafficking is the second largest illegal trade, after drugs.

Sister Patricia emphasized that human trafficking is everywhere in the world. “In my work here in Michigan, I’ve learned that many people think we don’t have human trafficking in Lenawee County because it’s rural, but in all 83 counties in Michigan, there are cases of human trafficking,” she said. 

“One of the phenomenal aspects [of the conference] was how many different people we were able to interact with and network about what was taking place in their geographical regions,” Sister Patricia said. She gained “new ideas, new insight, a way of realizing the connection of all of us.” Human trafficking is growing worldwide, and “the more who are involved [in working against it], the more can be done,” she said. 

Sister Judy Byron, OP, also attended the conference. “One takeaway for me was that we had the vision to end human trafficking, and the Sisters got together to found Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking,” Sister Judy said. “We’ve partnered with associates and many organizations and lay people to address this issue because it’s bigger than us.”

Through her involvement with the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center (IPJC), based in Seattle, Sister Judy has been active in efforts against human trafficking since 2008. The organization’s many activities include monthly vigils in downtown Seattle that have been ongoing for 15 years and various presentations on the topic to raise awareness of the issue, including webinars for junior high school students. 

During the vigils, IPJC activists hold signs to attract the attention of passersby. In the beginning, Sister Judy said, people thought that human trafficking involved brothels in Cambodia. “Over the years, people began to realize that it’s happening in this country – labor and sex trafficking,” she said. “People thought it was over there but realized that human trafficking is no respecter of countries. It’s everywhere.”

Sister Judy explained that Adrian Dominican Sisters and other faith-based investors also work with the tourism industry to train their employees about the signs of a human trafficking situation and what they should do if they suspect it. Hotels and airlines especially have been training their employees, she said.

A particular challenge in efforts against human trafficking is that it has moved online in recent years, Sister Judy said. “Children are solicited on their phones and groomed for sex,” she explained. “There are parental controls on iPads and phones, but if kids want to find a way around it, they will.” Faith-based shareholders are working with social media platforms such as Meta, phone companies, and other communications companies to find ways to protect children, she said.

Sister Patricia educates the public, working with parishes and schools in the Adrian area and speaking to organizations such as the local Chamber of Commerce. “I see many positive programs reaching out to the public,” she said. “This networking is very proactive and positive around addressing the issue.”

If you suspect that a situation involves labor or sex trafficking, call the U.S. Department of Human Services at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE (1-866-347-2423). More information can be found on www.dhs.gov/bluecampaign or from the Polaris Project, https://polarisproject.org/.

January has been declared the National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and January 11, 2024, is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. The observance continues into February with the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, the Patron Saint of Human Trafficking Victims.