MikeLigalig.com

A prominent Filipino doctor and his wife are facing deportation because of misstatements about their marital status in their US visa application in Manila 27 years ago.

Dr. Pedro Servano, 54, is a prominent family doctor who chose to practice in an underserved area of central Pennsylvania and his wife, Salvacion, 51, runs a grocery store and bakery. They have four children two of whom are in college and the other two in high school.

The community Nov. 18 held an evening vigil here to express their support for the Servanos and to protest the order of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency for them to report to an immigration facility in Allentown after Thanksgiving Day for the start of deportation proceedings. This was later deferred to Monday, Nov. 26. 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 (160 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.

Michael Gilhooly, spokesman of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), said that while the Servanos won’t be detained or deported immediately, the administrative process for deportation will begin.
A deadline on when the Servanos must leave the country has not been set, Cotler said.

The “Patriot News” in Pennsylvania recently said in an editorial that while “U.S. borders are so porous as to permit millions to enter the country illegally, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has wasted 17 years of staff time and who knows how much in legal fees trying to deport a Selinsgrove physician and his wife because they applied for visas as singles but married before emigrating from the Philippines in the 1980s.” “This case cries out for further review by authorities unafraid to exercise common sense,” the editorial said.

The Servanods’ 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. While their visa applications were pending, the two married in the Philippines in 1980. Two years later, Salvacion’s visa was granted and she left the country. Pedro followed in 1984 after getting his visa, and the couple moved to Philadelphia.

read more here: http://www.manilamaildc.net/2007/12/01/model-pinoy-doctor-fights-deportation/

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I have to agree with you, Ms Precious, on this. At least with regards to America not playing around. They mean business, and when they get on to you, they don't play games. Like the IRS, for example. You better not deny them their money. As people say, you can run away from God, but there's no outrunning the IRS.

I remember a prominent case of a family from Cebu who relocated to the Bay Area some 22 years ago. They were on visitor's visas, and they've been living without legal papers/legal status in San Jose, CA. The husband was a good person, highly respected in the community. Him and his wife had good jobs, their 3 kids all in college. They were a good family, lived their lives respectably, were good members of the community. But the gov't somehow got wind of their situation, deportation proceedings started immediately. They hired good lawyers, everyone in the community supported the family, there were letters of appeal written, there were picket lines, there was media coverage...

But when America (the gov't) decides to play ball, they don't play around.

The family was deported. And on the day they arrived in Cebu, ABS-CBN was there to cover the story.



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