What's Happening

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.