In 1855, when the Sisters of St. Francis first began ministering to immigrants, there were no distinctions. Anyone coming into the U.S. from another country was an immigrant.
It’s not so easy these days. Now, there are a variety of visas that allow individuals to stay for months or years, and there are different classifications for people. There are refugees and asylum seekers, people leaving their home countries to escape persecution.
Refugees and asylees are the people that Sister Suzanne Susany and fellow Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities are helping.
Sister Suzanne is an immigration lawyer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“I work with refugees. These people are outside the United States. Our government screens them extensively for security and to make sure they meet the strict criteria for refugee status,” Sister Suzanne said. Under executive orders issued in January 2025, refugee and asylee applications have been put on indefinite hold. An estimated 20,000 refugees classified as “ready for departure” are now denied entry into the U.S.
“I also work with asylees — people who are in the United States seeking refuge from persecution.” Some people who have had asylum applications filed and court hearings scheduled have had those hearings canceled. That means that ICE can deport them, Sister Suzanne reported. She also is concerned that people who have a firm basis for attaining asylum who are swept up in an ICE raid will be deported because review courts are backed up and there is pressure to expel immigrants.
In Syracuse, New York, several of our Sisters volunteered with local organizations that support refugees, photocopying their documents so should ICE request their papers, they won’t have to give up the originals. Our Sisters also formed a committee to review other ways they can help.
“There are people who should be deported,” Sister Suzanne said. “Violent criminals should be deported 100 percent. There are gang members and those who violate our national security. That’s who ICE should be after.” Unauthorized entry into the U.S. is a civil offense, a misdemeanor violation that has now become a deportable offense.
“I think what is really called for is total immigration reform. Immigration law needs to consider our dearly held values of family, moral character, retribution and the common good rather than make one statement for everybody” Sister Suzanne said. “A law that considers that one mistake does not make you a criminal. That would be a law that would benefit our country and the common good.”
