Under the laws of family-based immigration, U.S. citizens may bring spouses, unmarried children and parents (if the citizen is over 21) from foreign countries to live permanently in the U.S. In a lower preference category (longer wait for visas if visas are available at all) citizens may also bring their siblings (if the citizen is over 21) and their married adult children. Lawful permanent residents may only bring their spouses and unmarried minor and adult children.
Because the Servanos were married when they immigrated, ICE charges them with having fraudulently entered the U.S. under the false pretense of being unmarried children of an LPR or naturalized citizen.
Had I been in the young couple's shoes, (pressured into marriage by the strict father, according to a previous Daily Item article), I would not have sacrificed my imminent opportunity to immigrate and would have banked on the presumption that once in the United States, the omission of the changed marital status would be treated as an oversight. (Maybe in another political climate, it would have been).
Our community is outraged at the inhumane treatment of this hardworking family because we know that family. I wish we could expand that compassion to the thousands of anonymous, hardworking families all across the United States that are victims of immigration raids, whose children come home from school to find that one or both parents have been picked up at work and taken away -- a most cruel situation.
I hope the Servanos' plight sensitizes our community to the cruel and unjustifiable actions taken against hardworking "illegal" immigrants every day in this country. Moral and humane people should raise their voices not just for the one family they know, but for all victims of our anti-"illegal" immigrant policies and actions.
Kerry Moser,
Selinsgrove
Opinion
Humane society?
- Opinion
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Good-paying jobs
I am writing in response to comments made by several lawmakers and certain media regarding people receiving unemployment compensation not searching for employment but only wanting extensions.
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Economy is tough but still pay rises
It was my first time attending a Lewisburg School Board meeting last night. I went to hear public comment on the Boards recent decision to extend the Superintendents contract, which included a 20-plus percent pay raise.
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Sunbury has a lot to offer
I would like to respond to the letter writer that inferred that Sunbury was a pretty package with nothing inside.
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Mutual aid is necessary
Mutual aid agreements in local law enforcement strike at the heart of basic small-town decency. When a neighbor is in need, those equipped to help ought to drop everything and spring to aid.
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Lifting me higher
I am not a winner of a Pulitzer Prize, nor am I an author of best selling novels, I'm just a human being attempting to live life here on earth with purpose and I can find no greater way to do that than through my faith and my belief in God.
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Understaffing
I read with interest your article regarding police mutual aid in Northumberland County.
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Carney, Marino ought to get focused on issues
U.S. Rep. Chris Carney and Tom Marino ought to focus on the issues in the upcoming campaign for Congress.
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Blatantly unfair
The Pennsylvania Republican Party is supporting an effort to strike third-party candidates from the general election ballot in November.
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Fiscal responsibility
This editorial letter is only the second such letter I have been moved to pen in my lifetime.
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Schools need a little help from home
Milton High School failed to meet its adequate yearly progress under Pennsylvania's version of the federal No Child Left Behind because one student did not show up for the standardized test.
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Good-paying jobs
