This isn’t any new news: Homeland Security has been attempting deport many illegals back to their homelands. And quite frankly they are deporting many who may have fallen through technicalities in the system. Dr. Pedro Servano and his wife received notification the day after the Thanksgiving holiday that they were to pack their bags and be processed for deportation at the Allenwood Federal Prison in Pennsylvania. These aren’t illegal immigrants who crossed the border and have been living secret lives in American society. These are well educated, well-to-do contributors to society who help others in their community and have tried legally to attain citizenship from the U.S. Government.
The Servanos’ offense? They entered the United States in the early 1980s on visas that did not reflect the couple had married since their mothers had completed the pair’s visa applications.
The Servano’s applied for their visas as single when they first entered the U.S. in the early 80’s because they were not married yet. Then in 1987, the couple officially wed and a few years later applied for legal citizenship as a married couple. During the process, an immigration official accused them of having misrepresented their marital status.
The couple have done nothing wrong except that their visa applications wrongly stated they were single, which was true when the applications were submitted, their attorney said.
Dr. Pedro Servano and his wife, Salvacion, obeyed an order to meet with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in Philadelphia and were told to report back in 60 days, attorney Gregg Cotler said. No deportation date was set, he said.
The couple has attempted to follow all laws and rules by Immigration officials. And now they must wait it out till their fate is decided from a mistake that was made years ago. Support is brewing for the Sevrano’s. Stay tuned for more info…
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bob weiss wrote:
The waiting period for natives of the Philippines in 1978 when Dr. Servano’s mother and Mrs. Servano’s (maiden name Capistrano) mother petitioned for their unmarried children to come to the US was approximately 6 years. The significance of this lengthy waiting period is that the immigration laws impacts people differently from different countries. For instance, in Germany or France, natives of those countries can come to the US with a visa after a week or less. But that wasn’t available to the Servanos. They were single at the time their visas were completed in full compliance with US laws. However, the laws, as they are applied to natives of the Philippines like the Servanos, penalize those whose marital status changes. The question is whether it is common sense to dictate that lives should be frozen in time after they apply for a visa. Everyone understands, however, that lives don’t and should not stand still. After years of dating, people get married. The Servanos decided to get married. Their punishment by the US is absolutely absurd. The effect of this application of the law is that the Government is promoting having children out of wedlock instead of honoring those who believe in the sanctity of marriage and family. This insane illogical application of the law could easily be avoided if at the time the visa application is completed the marital status issue is tolled until the applicants come to the US. This would avoid a lack of parity around the world and our Government would not be responsible for destroying a closely knit family who are more patriotic than many Americans born in America.
Posted on 27-Nov-07 at 10:46 pm | Permalink
Obi wrote:
Interesting article.
Never realised how bad immigration tends to be in America.
Too many jobsworths in bureaucracy.
Posted on 29-Nov-07 at 3:46 am | Permalink
Shappine wrote:
Notification for an order of deportation was received on October 23rd and not the day after Thanksgiving.
Posted on 29-Nov-07 at 12:25 pm | Permalink