Physician and His Wife Granted Stay of Deportation
Dr. Pedro Servano and his wife, Salvacion, who are nationals of the Philippines, have been granted a stay of deportation. The case has made headlines since November 2007 due to the overwhelming support of their small community to keep Dr. Servano in the US. Dr. Servano is the only primary care physician in Selinsgrove, an underserved area in Pennsylvania. However, the couple was placed in deportation proceedings because of a long-ago error on their immigration paperwork.
The Servanos were ordered deported to their native Philippines because of a change in their marital status during their visa application process over 20 years ago. When they applied for their visas, they were single. However, they were already married when the visas were granted and never informed U.S. officials of the change.
The
Servanos were first served with a deportation notice in 1992. The deportation
order was affirmed in successive appeals, by the Board of Immigration Appeals
and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. On November 23, 2007, the deportation
was temporarily put on hold when they were granted a “Deferred Action
Status”.
A
Filipino American Action Task Force has been established specifically to
generate support for the Servano case. Leaders of the group are hopeful that a
petition with over 20,000 signatures, along with sustained rallies around
Pennsylvania, will prompt Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) to sponsor a private bill
for the couple.
A
private immigration bill applies to extraordinary immigration cases like the
Servanos, who have come to represent law-abiding immigrants who contribute
productively to their community but whose status is under review because of a
technicality in the law.
According
to the couple’s attorney, a private bill is the Servanos only hope to remain
in the US. However, the chances of
a private bill passing are slim: out of the 86 bills filed, only six have been
approved by Congress.
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