Couple fight deportation after 20+ years in USA

[peejay 327]

Couple fight deportation after 20+ years

By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press writer

Sat Nov 17, 3:29 AM ET

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 apparent misstatements they made about their marital status 17 years ago have 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 1990, 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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071117/ap_on_..._KuwKCMV1lH2ocA

[YuAndDan 153]

Amazing how two posters can post same story at same time. Yes sounds like a messy situation.

SEE: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=96563

[Amby 490]

wow. why did it take 15yrs after someone noticed? all the appeals? just curious

[Otto 83]

There must be more to this than whats in the article...

• Both came here on (presumably) K2 visa (1982 and 1984) yet they were married
• Denied Citizenship (1990) deportation proceedings begin.
• Left country 1992 (back to PI)
• Returned to US (how?) 1995
• Led quiet, unassuming life for the next 12 years

What a mess...

[Jasman0717 8]

That is going to be culture shock for them

[YuAndDan 153]

There must be more to this than whats in the article...

• Both came here on (presumably) K2 visa (1982 and 1984) yet they were married
• Denied Citizenship (1990) deportation proceedings begin.
• Left country 1992 (back to PI)
• Returned to US (how?) 1995
• Led quiet, unassuming life for the next 12 years

What a mess...

From what I read their parents filed I-130 for unmarried son/daughter, but by time they got visas they were married in foreign country, and did not abandon one petition and get the other changed from un-married to married son/daughter. They entered the USA as single even though they were married.

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.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=96563

[Ladylethal 12]

There must be more to this than whats in the article...

• Both came here on (presumably) K2 visa (1982 and 1984) yet they were married
• Denied Citizenship (1990) deportation proceedings begin.
• Left country 1992 (back to PI)
• Returned to US (how?) 1995
• Led quiet, unassuming life for the next 12 years

What a mess...

They didn't leave the country in 1992, they moved to Philadelphia, and then back to their hometown in the same state in 1995.

Also, doesn't seem to be a K2, but that their parents had citizenship and they got into that long waiting list for children over 21 to get a visa to come live permanently.

Edited November 17, 2007 by Luis&Laura

[Dakine 26]

Bottomline is they lied to USCIS and it caught up with them.

Feel sorry for them as they appear to be very productive illegal immigrants when LOTS aren't.

Can't change the law for a few tho.

[Addie_Goodvibes 0]

Bottomline is they lied to USCIS and it caught up with them.

Feel sorry for them as they appear to be very productive illegal immigrants when LOTS aren't.

Can't change the law for a few tho.

[Fandango 1,439]

Making a big hoo ha over these folks while 20 million illegals bleed our country dry....unfreakingbelievable....

[chris4gretchen 1]

when they married in the Philippines they negated the visa filed by their respective parents. however both still claimed to be single when approved and allowed to immigrate. then at the interview for citizenship they were found out. visa fraud to secure immigration is a federal felony. they knew what they were doing. my fiancee has an uncle that has been engaged for 10 years. he wont marry the girl because he is being petitioned by his sister, a US citizen. He knows if he marries his fiancee the visa is over. they knew it too, including the parents who petitioned them. it is clear you petition UNMARRIED sons and daughters. married sons and daughters are a different filing and longer wait. sorry they built a life here but they built it on a lie. and they have had since 1990 to make their case and i think they have had their say now and its time for them to abide by the laws. 17 years to let them stay while appealing is long enough.

if you commit visa fraud you should pay the consequences regardless if you are a doctor or uneducated worker. and yes we should also do something about the 12 million other illegal aliens and all the overstays etc. I bet our next president does alot with the illegal immigration problem. I hope its Ron Paul.

they will probably be deported and then in 6 months or a year be allowed back in with a waiver for the ban.

Chris

Edited November 18, 2007 by chris4gretchen

[Caladan 19]

Making a big hoo ha over these folks while 20 million illegals bleed our country dry....unfreakingbelievable....

They're one of the twenty (or nine or twelve or whatever) million, if you're counting. These are just as 'illegal' in the common use of the term as all the others.

The first interesting question, to my mind, is whether they knowingly committed fraud. We get a lot of people asking whether they can marry their fiancee after she has the visa but before she enters, presumably on the grounds that everyone's still marrying the same person they promised to marry, so why should it be so important? As we all know, it's very important, but it's not the sort of thing that your average person would think would bar someone from the country permanently. Similar situation here: they were both single at the time they were sponsored. I wonder if they received bad advice from an attorney, or if it never occurred to them that it would be a problem.

The second interesting question is whether they would have been caught at all had they not applied for citizenship.

[Fandango 1,439]

Making a big hoo ha over these folks while 20 million illegals bleed our country dry....unfreakingbelievable....

They're one of the twenty (or nine or twelve or whatever) million, if you're counting. These are just as 'illegal' in the common use of the term as all the others.

The first interesting question, to my mind, is whether they knowingly committed fraud. We get a lot of people asking whether they can marry their fiancee after she has the visa but before she enters, presumably on the grounds that everyone's still marrying the same person they promised to marry, so why should it be so important? As we all know, it's very important, but it's not the sort of thing that your average person would think would bar someone from the country permanently. Similar situation here: they were both single at the time they were sponsored. I wonder if they received bad advice from an attorney, or if it never occurred to them that it would be a problem.

The second interesting question is whether they would have been caught at all had they not applied for citizenship.

We can sit here and armchair QB about what happened with these peeps when they came over, but truly...who can do that with one blurb from an article?

And yeah, we can play semantics about their right to be here....but honestly, there was obviously a snafu in the paperwork. We shouldn't judge them by today's visa standards....unless someone here knows all the intimate details of their case AND knows the ins and outs of visa law at the time of their processing.

This is a lot different than sneaking over a border, or coming here on the VWP/tourist visa and never leaving. This is a lot different to either working under the table, or commiting identity theft and social security fraud. A LOT.

[russ 1]

Bottomline is they lied to USCIS and it caught up with them.

Lying under oath is a big deal, especially if you get caught.

The system is kind of a mess to, though, as it puts so many restrictions on when you should or shouldn't get married.

[Sheriff Uling 3]

Bottomline is they lied to USCIS and it caught up with them.

Feel sorry for them as they appear to be very productive illegal immigrants when LOTS aren't.

Can't change the law for a few tho.

Very true! If I am going to stick to my guns on the immigration issue than it's paalam "goodbye" to that couple... One less set of illegal immigrants! I'll even go one better, if they had kids, they should be deported with them... Unfortunately we have that stupid studid birth rule...

Edited November 18, 2007 by Sheriff Uling