News that Pedro and Salvacion Servano have two more months to fight deportation is promising.
The battle is far from over. The couple and their supporters must now convince a federal legislator to introduce a private immigration bill on the Selinsgrove couple’s behalf. Then the bill must pass. It is no small hurdle.
On that front, there is good news too. All three legislators — Rep. Chris Carney, Sen. Bob Casey and Sen. Arlen Specter — are reportedly reviewing the case to see if such legislation is appropriate.
It is.
Let us go back to the beginning of this tale.
The Servanos’ crime was wedding. After their paperwork seeking admission to this country was filed, they got married. When they first came to the U.S., they did so as man and wife even though their paperwork said each was single.
If Pedro and Salvacion had never married, they could have come to the U.S. and begun raising a family. Their forms would have been correct. The bureaucrats in Immigration and Customs Enforcement would have had no quibble with their paperwork.
But they wed.
Why is marital status even on the immigration forms? Why would our government punish a family for being led by a couple who sanctified their love by exchanging vows? The federal government ignores more serious violations by other illegal immigrants. Why play hardball with otherwise law-abiding residents?
The violation is a technicality — one that hardly seems worth decades of appeals. Unless you are the person being deported. In published reports, an ICE spokesman said the only reason the appeals have dragged on is because the Servanos have kept fighting. In most cases, those affected acquiesce and return to their home country. The Servanos have not done so. They should not. Our legislators have expressed their support for the couple. The best support would be action. It is what the Servanos need. It is what Valley residents should demand.
