ICE to deport hard working couple.

[Trajan12]

SOURCE

Couple to be Deported After 20 Years?

​

Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007 By AP/GENARO C. ARMAS


(State College, Pa.) — Immigrants Pedro and Salvacion Servano have been model U.S. residents since arriving from the Philippines in the 1980s.


Pedro Servano, 54, is a prominent family doctor in an underserved area of central Pennsylvania. His 51-year-old wife runs a grocery store and bakery.

But a change in their marital status during their visa application process more than two decades ago has come back to haunt them, and now they are facing possible deportation back to the Philippines.

The couple have been told to report to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office the day after Thanksgiving for the start of deportation proceedings, agency spokesman Michael Gilhooly said Friday.

Their attorney, Gregg Cotler, is devising a flurry of last-ditch legal and political appeals to allow them to remain in Selinsgrove, about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

"We love this country and this is our American dream to be here," Salvacion Servano said in a telephone interview. "We've been here for 25 years. This is our home."

Their difficulties can be traced back to 1978 when, while both were single, their mothers applied for visas for them to come to the United States.

The couple married in the Philippines in 1980, and two years later, Salvacion Servano's visa was granted and she left the country. Pedro Servano followed in 1984 after getting his visa, and the couple moved to Philadelphia.

The Servanos applied for U.S. citizenship while living in San Diego in but an immigration official noticed during an interview that their visa application listed them as single. They were accused of lying and misrepresenting their marital status, and the deportation process began, Cotler said.

"I guess it's an honest mistake," Salvacion Servano said. "It's not premeditated."

The Servanos went about their lives as they filed appeals. They moved back to Philadelphia in 1992 before settling in Selinsgrove three years later. Pedro Servano works at Geisinger Medical Group in Selinsgrove, where he has about 2,000 patients.

Two of their four children graduated from Temple University, while one is in high school and another is in middle school.

Several years ago, the Servanos bought and renovated two properties in nearby Sunbury. Salvacion Servano recently opened a small grocery store there, selling Asian goods and baked items.

"They had an error on their visas when they first came here," said Terry Specht, Sunbury's city clerk, who frequents the store. "It's ridiculous to think they would lie about that."

But their appeals have been unsuccessful and appear to have run their course.

The Servanos turned to Cotler after receiving notice earlier this month that they had to report to the immigration enforcement office.

"It was a surprise to us," Pedro Servano said. "After that, it was as if a ton of bricks had fallen on our family."

Gilhooly declined to discuss the specifics of the case, citing ICE policy.

"They have had their due process through the U.S. immigration court system," he said. "They have exhausted their appeals."

Cotler hopes otherwise. His legal team is considering emergency appeals in court and directly to the U.S. attorney general's office.

The family has lobbied for help from politicians. Friends scheduled a prayer vigil in Sunbury for Saturday night.

Letters of support to the government have poured in from local dignitaries, Servano's patients and even someone from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE.

"I fervently believe in the ICE mission. However, the Servanos did not sneak into this country illegally, they have broken no laws, and they have not been a burden to the economy. They pose no threat," DHS counterterrorism operative Bill Schweigart wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Item of Sunbury. "I cannot fathom how deporting the Servanos fulfills any portion of the ICE mission. In fact, I would argue the action runs counter to it."

Cotler said the couple understands the government's position, but would simply like another chance to tell their story.

"You would not find two nicer people, two more unassuming people," Specht said. "It's a shame that these two are caught up in all this."

Even when the government does do its job it makes a point to do it as inefficiently and backwardly as possible.

Counter productivity FTW!

 

[Elta]

^ that is a serious post displying my emotions about visa screw ups

 

[Godwynn]

Even when the government does do its job it makes a point to do it as inefficiently and backwardly as possible.

That's what I've been saying all along.

 

[skadistic]

They can only blame them selves for not making sure everything was in order.

 

[Arwon]

...and there goes skadistic, descending into self parody.

 

[skadistic]

...and there goes skadistic, descending into self parody.

So you have nothing of substance to add? Its because I'm right.

 

[Stolen Rutters]

The government doesn't like it when you click the wrong radio button on a short form. I would assume that their connection timed out when filling out the form, and the radio button reset to the default "single" when they refreshed the page. I would give them the benefit of the doubt.

edit - oops, the visa applications were initially filled out in 1978, when they were still single. Online filing didn't exist back then.

Paperwork is such a pain. I was denied financial aid in college for the last two years of college because I filled the form out wrong. It cost me thousands. (I haven't filled out a paper form to the government in years. I've filed my taxes online since it became available. The Federal paperwork reduction act ROCKS.)

 

[Fifty]

They are criminals. They are not hard working, and they are not immigrants. They are criminals. If it wouldn't cost even more taxpayer dollars then deporting them will take, I'd say put those criminals in prison.

I can't believe you guys are so deluded by PC rhetoric to think these criminals deserve any less then the harshest of penalties.

 

[Evie]

Actually, going by the article, they filled their visa application forms in 1978, *BEFORE* getting married.

At which time it would, y'know, have been a lie to put anything but single in on the form.

 

[woody60707]

They can only blame them selves for not making sure everything was in order.

wait, hold on. it wasn't the fact that they made a mistake, but that ICE thought they were lying that they made a big deal of this.

People make mistakes all the time. I expected people in law enforcement know the differences between making an mistake and intending to comment an illegal act. least then one day i end up in trouble with the law; not for criminal intent, but for not simply paying attention.

 

[Arwon]

Government bureaucracy gone mad!

 

[Fifty]

People make mistakes all the time.

And nobody disputes that fact. But these aren't people and they aren't immigrants. They are criminals.

 

[skadistic]

wait, hold on. it wasn't the fact that they made a mistake, but that ICE thought they were lying that they made a big deal of this.

People make mistakes all the time. I expected people in law enforcement know the differences between making an mistake and intending to comment an illegal act. least then one day i end up in trouble with the law; not for criminal intent, but for not simply paying attention.

It doesn't mater. They erred. In their own actions they failed them selves. My girl friend is a legal resident non-citizen VISA holder on her way to citizenship. She makes sure everything is absolutely perfect and correct to avoid things like this. If you can't be bothered to double check what you put on a form then maybe you don't want citizenship bad enough.

 

[Fifty]

I think you're being a little naive here skad if you are assuming these people made a mistake. I mean doesn't every criminal claim they made a mistake when they finally get caught? These (sub)humans are criminals and nothing else. I'm sure now the liberals will want us to pay for their trip back to the Philippines too.

 

[druidravi]

It doesn't mater. They erred. In their own actions they failed them selves. My girl friend is a legal resident non-citizen VISA holder on her way to citizenship. She makes sure everything is absolutely perfect and correct to avoid things like this. If you can't be bothered to double check what you put on a form then maybe you don't want citizenship bad enough.

I think considering the facts of the case a fine and admonition would be better than deporting them after living there for 25 years and having kids and so . They are american citizens now. If at all the bueracracy is to blame for not checking on this error before . If they checked and decided to deport them they should have done it long back rather than now when they have spent their best part of life.

@fifty: Are you being sarcastic or real . Internet sarcasm is tough to guess at .

 

[philippe]

I think you're being a little naive here skad if you are assuming these people made a mistake. I mean doesn't every criminal claim they made a mistake when they finally get caught? These (sub)humans are criminals and nothing else. I'm sure now the liberals will want us to pay for their trip back to the Philippines too.

Let's scare the immigrants with the tactics of Vlad the Impaler...
Impale them and set them at the border line...

What Philippines? Uh...

Mexicans ,Philippino's all the same

 

[skadistic]

I think considering the facts of the course a fine and admonition would be better than deporting them after living there for 25 years and having kids and so . They are americans now

They are residents not citizens so they are not Americans. They can always go back and refile for VISA status. Maybe this time they will take the responsibility and make sure its all done right.

 

[Damnyankee]

We should put the National Guard of the border states on the border, stop the vast majority of illegal immigration, and give amnesty to the 12 million already here. Its unrealistic to assume we can get rid of them.

 

[Fifty]

@fifty: Are you being sarcastic or real . Internet sarcasm is tough to guess at .

Dead Serious.

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Hardworking Taxpayers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Criminals


Moderator Action: Enough of trolling Fifty.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[MjM]

We should put the National Guard of the border states on the border, stop the vast majority of illegal immigration, and give amnesty to the 12 million already here. Its unrealistic to assume we can get rid of them.

And what will the National Guard do that we don't already have? I would rather not have thousands of National Guard in my state, thanks.