Everybody is talking about immigration.
Robert Oliver and Mary Bradley only wish somebody would listen.
So far, nobody is. Not the U.S. State Department. Not the Department of Homeland Security or its immigration enforcement arm, called
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS - which, in Oliver's book, rhymes with useless).
Not even President Obama.
No one can seem to help Oliver get his elderly and ailing father off the "barred" list, so he can re-enter the United States to live out his life in the care of his son.
"He's barred for 10 years, so that means he can return when he's 99," Oliver said. "They (U.S. Embassy officials in London) said this to us with a straight face."
John Oliver is 89 and lives alone in one room in an assisted living complex in the Bailiwick of Jersey, the largest of England's Channel Islands.
Robert Oliver, his only surviving child, lives in the island's American namesake, New Jersey, with his fiance, Bradley, in Vernon.
John Oliver is not a suspected terrorist, drug dealer, thief, murderer or anarchist. He's a Royal Air Force World War II veteran, one of the guys who helped us win the Big One. After the war, he became a corporate accountant.
"My dad never broke a law in life," Robert Oliver said.
Well, he broke one. He overstayed a 90-day visitor's visa in 2011. That's when Oliver and his ailing wife, Betty, came from their Jersey to this Jersey to visit their son. But as soon as they arrived, it became apparent they would not be returning home in three months.
"My mother was 90; she had severe osteoporosis and liver problems. She was confined to a wheelchair. My father could no longer care for her over there," Robert said.
Betty Oliver became so sickly and frail while here, she was ordered by doctors not to travel.
"She was in and out of the hospital several times," Mary Bradley said. "Her doctor said she couldn't survive the trip."
She had a stroke and was eventually moved to hospice care, where she died in the fall of 2012.
It was during Betty's illness that the Olivers began to apply for permanent green card status, so they could live out their lives here. They were told there wouldn't be a problem since their son was an American citizen.
And, as it turns out, that was their first mistake.
"If we had to do it all over again, we would have done nothing," Bradley said. "They could have been like all the other illegal immigrants the country loses track of."
"But my father wouldn't do that," Robert Oliver said. "He wouldn't break the law. He wanted to do it by the book."
Instead, he got the book thrown at him.
They filed form after form. Bradley recited the numbers from memory: "I-601 ... I-601A ... G-28 ..." which led to more forms. State Department forms. Homeland Security forms. USCIS forms.
"We spent a few thousand dollars in application fees," Bradley said.
They were denied.
They tried to get permission to let John Oliver stay under President Obama's new hardship waiver laws to "promote family unity," as the USCIS website says.
Denied.
They got police documents from every English town John lived in to prove he wasn't a criminal.
Denied.
They showed he had the money to not become an indigent burden to the state.
"He paid all of her hospital bills, spending at least $70,000 of his life savings," Bradley said.
Denied.
They showed he was a taxpayer. John Oliver also paid U.S. taxes on his English pension income while he living here.
"He felt it was right," Robert said.
Still, they were denied.
They were told to travel to the U.S. Embassy in London to apply in person.
"And that's where they told us he was barred," Robert said. "I couldn't believe what I was hearing."
That was two years ago. Once out of the country, John Oliver couldn't come back. He has been living alone ever since.
The family then started contacting immigration lawyers. Guess what they were told?
"They said 'You should have never started the process; they would have never found him,' " Bradley said. "They said now, we should sneak him back through Canada (through an unmanned border crossing)."
But John Oliver won't do that.
"He won't do anything illegal," his son said.
They have since contacted Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez, and their Congressman Scott Garrett. Booker assigned an immigration specialist to them, but they haven't heard back.
So far, no one has been able to help. Even the president's response admits the immigration system is "badly broken."
A return letter from Obama began like this:
"Thank you for writing. America's immigration system is badly broken ... That is why I am deeply committed to working with Congress to enact bipartisan common sense reform that ... delivers relief for those in need."
He then directed them to USCIS website.
Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.