He went from delivering pizza to being detained by immigration officers.
A guard at an Army garrison in Brooklyn called Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a pizza delivery man who made a delivery there Friday. Now, Ecuadorean immigrant Pablo Villavicencio is in ICE custody pending removal from the country, agency spokeswoman Rachael Yong Yow said.
“Villavicencio-Calderon was detained by military police officers and turned over to ICE,” Yong Yow said.
Villavicencio’s wife, Sandra Chica, said he went to deliver pizza to Fort Hamilton last week and was asked for identification by the guard who received him at the gate.
Villavicencio, who worked at Nonna Delia’s pizzeria, in Queens, produced a city identification card, but the official told him he wanted to see a state driver’s license. When Villavicencio did not produce one, the guard called ICE, his wife said.
“This is unhuman,” Chica said during a phone interview. “He was not committing any crime. He is a father who is working for his daughters. Every day our daughters ask me why their dad is not coming home.”
Chica, who was born in Colombia and moved to the U.S. a decade ago, said she is a U.S. citizen. The couple has two daughters, who are 3 and 2 years old and were born in the U.S.
The three of them attended a press conference in front of the army base Wednesday along with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and city Councilman Justin Brannan. Both politicians said they were seeking answers from Fort Hamilton.
“Is our city, state and nation any safer today because they took a pizza delivery guy off the streets?” asked Brannan.
Fort Hamilton did not immediately respond to a call and an email requesting comment. Yong Yow, the ICE spokeswoman, said that in March 2010 Villavicencio was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge but failed to depart by July, as ordered.
“As such, his voluntary departure order became a final order of removal,” she said.
Chica said this was not the first time Villavicencio delivered pizza at the base.
“What prompted them to call ICE?” she asked. “They only care about statistics, one more deported man. They don’t care about the impact this will have on us.”
Immigrant family advocacy groups like Make the Road New York have called for an investigation. Steven Choi, executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition, said in a press release “it’s absolutely disgusting when the strongest military in the world punches down by going after pizza delivery men.”
(AP)
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13 Responses
A picture is worth a thousand words. I look at the picture of this guy holding his two daughters and it pulls at my heartstrings. He is here illegally. He broke the law. But….but…..So sad.
In the 1960’s my mom o”h used to cook in a kosher retirement hotel in Los Angeles. One morning the place was raided by Immigration Officers. They took away 6 illegal workers. One of them was a young girl (around 18 years old – not Jewish) from El Salvador who lived with her mom and siblings in the L.A. area. My mom, who spent some years in Auschwitz felt badly for this young girl. She felt a similarity, somehow between this girl and herself. My mom contacted the authorities and made arrangements to adopt this girl so that she would not be deported. I don’t know where this girl went but I know that she was able to attend and complete high school and then go onto college.
I hope she was able to assist others during her lifetime.
Maybe we should have a program to adopt or sponsor some of these non-violent/non-criminal illegals with families.
So sad.
attempting to enter a military base without id IS A CRIME. And besides, wasnt the pizza delivery guy the classic spy ruse way back when?
Other sites point out that what really happened was that a background check is performed on outsiders requesting access into the base, and it was the background check that showed an outstanding ICE warrant.
What I don’t understand is dow did the delivery person travel to the base in the first place if he had no driver’s license? Walked? Public transport? Someone else drove him?
This is so insane and disgusting, poor delivery man.
I feel sorry for him and his family, but why couldn’t he have stayed here the legal way? Why do people try to get away with getting documentation?
Undocumented immigrant? The correct , not politically correct term is illegal alien. The man broke the law entering our country and is here illegally. There are always politicians and activists calling for immigration reform. We have laws on the books regarding immigration which have not been enforced. We don’t need new legislation if the existing laws were to be enforced. If people who broke the law, entered the country illegally, are “rewarded” with being allowed to stay or citizenship, what does that say to the person following legal procedures to come here? It tells them you’re idiots. Just enter illegally, the U.S. will de facto allow you to stay. Not only that, you and your family will get free health care and education. It won’t cost you a penny. The legal tax paying citizens will pay the tab. I’m fed up with paying for services of people who broke the law to come here. I’m frustrated with our politicians who pander to these “undocumented Democrats”. Time to secure the border and enforce existing laws.
Ata boy
Given that not only is there minimal unemployment, but that the lack of people to fill jobs is hurting economic growth, there is no reason to deport a gainfully employed taxpayer. We should go back to the old rule, that anyone is welcome as long as they stay out of jail and do not become a “public charge” (go on welfare).
Is this particularly relevant to the Yeshiva world?
Moshe Eli: git gezugt
Just to set the record straight – undocumented immigrants DO PAY TAXES. They have PAYROLL TAXES deducted from their checks by their employer, at the same rate as citizens/legal residents. Furthermore, without documents someone cannot apply for tax refunds, food stamps, rent subsidies, medicaid for their kids, etc., so they DON’T get services. The only exception is emergency room care, which ERs are required by law to provide to all, including undocumented citizens.
The situation is that in terms of taxes, undocumented workers actually contribute more than they take out.
And remember – with boomers beginning to get old and retire in droves, and the US birth rate dropping, if we stop immigration we will find our population actually shrinking. Think about that.
@ysam – Do you live in the United States? I do. This story is the lead story on every single news outlet for the past 20 hours. Get a grip.
I’ve worked in the public school system and in the social service field. Illegals receive free education and do receive services like medical care and welfare. Some states allow this , and at times the use of illegally acquired social security numbers does the trick. Sorry, if you’re here illegally, we owe you nothing. In fact, you owe us for the free services you illegally received.