He was just trying to make a living to take care of his family in the land of opportunity, but that opportunity has become a nightmare for Pablo Villavicencio.
The pizza delivery man was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation after delivering a pizza to a military base in Brooklyn, New York on June 1.
Villavicencio’s wife, Sandra Chica, said Villavicencio was then taken to an immigration jail in Manhattan, where he contacted her, according to a report from El Diario, a Hispanic newspaper in the NYC area.
“As usual, he went to the military base to deliver a pizza order. But this time, the guard, whom he identified as African American, asked him for a valid identification document, and since he didn’t have one, the soldier called immigration to arrest him,” Chica told reporters.
Chica, who is an American citizen, said she met Villavicencio five years ago, got married and now have two daughters. In February, they began to apply for Villavicencio to get residency status.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams (D) and City Council Member Justin Brannan (D), both whom represent Fort Hamilton, are expected to ask for answers concerning Villavicencio’s arrest. Activists have called for Villavicencio to be released, for an investigation of the Brooklyn military base and for the base to stop collaborating with ICE.
TheSource.com will provide updates to this story as it develops.
