The federal government says a man who grew up in Williamsport, served in the U.S. Navy, married a local woman and is a parent and a grandparent is not an American citizen and is taking steps to boot him out of the country.
Mike Scampone worries his time in central Pennsylvania is running out.
Soon he many have to leave the country, and leave behind his wife, Tammy, and the people he loves.
"One day, I'll wake up and someone's knocking on my door, and I'll be gone," Scampone said. "Not seeing my family, I'll miss that the most if that does happen."
Scampone grew up in the Canadian city of Winnepeg, Manitoba until he was 11, when his mother put him and his three siblings up for adoption.
A Williamsport couple adopted all four of them in 1978.
He grew up in Williamsport, then his family moved to Loyalsock where he graduated from high school, then joined the Navy.
Scampone served for five years and was cited for distinguished service, and later granted an honorable discharge.
"He did that for our country, for his country," said his wife Tammy.
Scampone came back to Williamsport, got married, had kids and grandchildren. He worked and paid taxes.
When he was asked, why isn't he an American citizen he answered, "That's a very good question. I wish I had the answer to."
Scampone saidhis troubles began at a Williamsport laundromat three years ago when he left his wallet in his pants and washed them. His Social Security card disintegrated. Because he had just lost his job, he needed that card to find work.
"And I said, 'All you have to do is go get it replaced,'" said his wife.
When the couple went to the Social Security office in Williamsport to do that, a clerk delivered bad news.
According to Tammy Scampone, "He said, 'I'm sorry Mike, I can't replace it. You're not a citizen.'"
Not a citizen.
At age 45, Mike Scampone learned, despite what seemed to be a legal adoption, American military service, and an American wife, kids and grandchildren, he was technically an illegal alien.
He fought back for more than two years, even passing a citizenship test, but last month, Customs and Immigrations Service officials concluded Scampone could not be a citizen for "poor moral character. "
Why? Because he voted.
"He had been participating in elections," said Tammy Scampone, "which he thought he was doing legally because he thought he was a U.S. citizen."
Mike Scampone thought it was simple, "I thought I was doing my civic duty," he said.
A CIS spokeswoman told us the agency, "cannot comment on individual immigration cases, or the legality of anyone' adoption."
The spokesperson added people who serve in the military "are not necessarily American citizens, nor does their service automatically qualify them for citizenship. "
Since the government says Scampone is not a citizen, a letter from homeland security informed him the process of sending him out of the U.S. is underway.
"There's one thing that no one can take from me and that's hope," said Scampone, "and yes, there's hope."
He worries his two sisters and his brother, who works for the federal government, will also face the same fate if they lose their Social Security card.
Since Action 16 Investigates started asking questions, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service found Scampone a federal public defender who is working to keep him from being deported, and trying to get him the American citizenship he thought he had when he was adopted in 1978.