By Damian Gessel
SELINSGROVE — A spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday said Dr. Pedro and Salvacion Servano — the Selinsgrove couple who will soon be deported to the Philippines — have been given a fair shake through the immigration court system.
While ICE spokesman Michael Gilhooly wouldn’t discuss the specifics of the Servanos’ pending deportation, he did tell The Daily Item the following:
“The Servanos have had all due process from the immigration court system.”
Meanwhile, relatives remain hopeful the Servanos will be granted a reprieve. Christina DeHaven, a niece of the Servanos who teaches film at New York University, said the family is maintaining its optimism.
“We’re still hopeful regardless,” she said Friday night. “We’re hoping to get word from (U.S.) Senator (Arlen) Spector’s office.”
The Servanos must report to Allenwood Federal Prison Complex on Nov. 23 to begin deportation proceedings. Whether or not they’re spared now rests in the hands of U.S. Sens. Spector and Bob Casey, who could introduce a private bill staying the Servanos’ deportation.
Ms. DeHaven said the Servanos and their lawyers are now in the process of filing for help from both U.S. senators.
The only other person who could prevent the Servanos from being deported to the Philippines — a country they haven’t lived in for decades and in which they have no family — is the director of the Department of Homeland Security.
Ms. DeHaven said: “We appreciate that everyone is concerned for (the Servanos). We just aren’t sure it will guarantee a positive outcome.”
Mr. Gilhooly noted the Servanos likely won’t be detained on Nov. 23. He couldn’t discuss specifics, but said if they are detained at all, it would be at a facility other than Allenwood Federal Prison Complex.
n E-mail comments to dgessel@dailyitem.com.
Dozens offer support
Dozens of people outraged over the scheduled Nov. 23 deportation of Selinsgrove physician Pedro Servano and his wife, Salvacion, have written letters urging the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to reconsider. Here’s what they’re saying:
“The mind reels and the heart sinks at the prospect of casting away a couple like Pedro and Salvacion Servano; however, unless justice prevails, after 21 years of valuable contribution, this is what is scheduled to occur on Nov. 23, 2007.”
— Bill Schweigart, U.S. Department of Homeland Security counter-terrorism operative.
“Dr. and Mrs. Servano have lived continuously in the United States for 24 years, and as you will see from Dr. Servano’s employer, he has been a U.S. physician for 15 years and a Geisinger employee for 12 years. Dr. Servano has 2,000 patients under his care and has financial obligations to several local banking institutions. Mrs. Servano has a small business in town. They have two children in high school and all have deep roots to their community.”
— U.S. Rep. Chris Carney,
D-10, of Dimock.
“(Dr. Servano)... is a valuable member of our provider team and of the Selinsgrove community. I strongly encourage you to favorably consider his request to remain in the country permanently. To lose Dr. Servano would seriously impact the care we provide at Geisinger-Selinsgrove, limiting our ability to see patients in a timely fashion, limiting access to our practice for new patients and critically impairing the level of health care that we currently provide in this rural community.”
— Dr. Steven B. Pierdon, chief
medical officer for clinical operations at Geisinger Medical Center.
“Dr. and Mrs. Servano are good citizens to the city of Sunbury and would be the type of citizens we should welcome in the United States. We would be proud to see them gain citizenship.”
— Sunbury Mayor Jesse Woodring.
“For years to come, Nov. 23 will hold a powerful significance for me and my family. How ironic is it that Thanksgiving — an All-American holiday for families across the U.S. — will be followed by the day when my parents will be forced to deport back to their homeland country of the Philippines, which they left more than 20 years ago... My family and I know nothing else but this country; we have together like a chain built a strong foundation fueled by the American dream, and we would not wish to be anywhere else in this world other than together as a family in the United States of America.”
— Shappine Capistrano Servano, Pedro and Salvacion’s eldest
daughter.
Important dates
— 1978 — The mothers of Pedro Servano and Salvacion Capistrano (they are not married at this time) apply for visas for their unwed children to leave the Philippines and come to the United States.
— 1980 — Pedro and Salvacion elope in a remote portion of the Philippines.
— 1982 — Mrs. Servano’s visa is granted, and she travels to the United States.
— 1984 — Dr. Servano follows his wife, arriving in the United States, where the couple settle in Philadelphia.
— 1990 — The Servanos move to San Diego, where they apply for U.S. citizenship and are told where they apply for U.S. citizenship and are told they will be deported because their visas, marked
“single,” were incorrect.
— 1991 — The Servanos lose an immigration appeal.
— 1993 — The Servanos lose a second appeal.
— 2002 — The Servanos’ final appeal — at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals — is denied.
— Oct. 25, 2007 — The Servanos receive two certified letters informing them of the date they will be deported.
— Nov. 23, 2007 — The Servanos must appear at Allenwood Federal Prison to be detained and deported to the Philippines.
