Looming immigration deadline threatens Irvington pastor's family, congregation
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From right: Irvington United Methodist Church senior pastor Sunil Kotian with his wife, Lois, and their children, Elicia, Eliana and Elijah. Photo: Courtesy of Sunil Kotian
Irvington United Methodist Church senior pastor Sunil Kotian doesn't know whether his wife and children will still be with him in Indianapolis next week.
Why it matters: The Kotian family's ordeal offers a window into a strained legal immigration system, with fallout now reaching a tight-knit congregation in one of Indy's most historic neighborhoods.
- The uncertainty also threatens to separate the family for a second time: They spent four years apart because of visa delays during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kotian, who came to Indianapolis from India in 2018 on a student visa to attend Christian Theological Seminary, became Irvington United Methodist Church's senior pastor in 2024.
- His green card application is progressing, but U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) last month denied applications for his wife, Lois, and two of their children, notifying them they would be considered unlawfully present after a 30-day deadline expires Friday.
Yes, but: Kotian told Axios this week that the denial letter contains neither an explicit deportation order nor clear instructions on what they must do.
- The only alternative offered — reopening the case — entails a 10-month wait, leaving the family in unlawful status long before any resolution.
- "My family, all of them have wept and cried … they're heartbroken," he said. "Why did I need to get them here for them to suffer this way?"
- Axios reached out to USCIS multiple times for clarification about the family's case and did not receive a response before publication.
Zoom in: Kotian believes USCIS shares responsibility, saying the agency sat on the application for a year before rejecting it and has provided no clarity on what action the family should take, even though his family has spent nearly a month making requests for information.
- "There are some other people who are worried about my family being in a detention center and then not being able to get out of there for six to eight months even if they wanted to deport themselves," he said.
Zoom out: A recent NPR review found nearly 12 million immigration applications awaiting decisions at USCIS, part of a backlog that immigration attorneys and advocates say can leave families stuck in legal limbo.
- The delays themselves create unlawful-presence problems for people who thought they were covered, NPR said.
- Additional process delays were introduced on April 27 when USCIS began requiring enhanced FBI background checks for many immigration applications, including green card and naturalization applications, as well as family-based petitions.
State of play: Lois Kotian told Axios that the congregation of Irvington UMC, one of the neighborhood's oldest institutions, has showered the family with support, including contacting lawmakers on their behalf.
- They receive 50 to 80 messages daily from concerned neighbors, but the uncertainty makes it impossible to tell supporters how to help.
- "Not knowing has all of us tied up in knots," she said.
Beyond the uncertainty facing the family, the "unlawful" designation has carried an emotional toll.
- "It just feels terrible to be thought of as, 'Oh, it's those immigrants. They'll do anything to stay here.' That's not all we've done," Lois Kotian said. "From the beginning, we've been clear that we don't want to do anything fraudulent to be here. We'd like to follow the right path."
The bottom line: What their life will look like next week remains unclear. But Sunil Kotian said he has no intention of abandoning his family, his congregation or his city.
- "This is my home," he said. "I own my home here. I pay taxes. I have two master's degrees from here. I love this place."