A federal judge ordered on Tuesday that an illegal alien pizza delivery man detained in New York by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency be released.
Manhattan federal Judge Paul Crotty ordered that Pablo Villavicencio, 35, an Ecuadorian national, be released from an ICE holding facility in New Jersey, calling Villavicencio “a model citizen.”
“Although he stayed in the United States unlawfully and is currently subject to a final order of removal, he has otherwise been a model citizen,” Crotty said on Tuesday, NBC New York reported.
Crotty said Villavicencio could remain in the U.S. while he attempts to become a legal U.S. citizen.
“What’s the harm to the country and to immigration policy by allowing him to finish the process?” Manhattan federal Judge Paul Crotty asked the federal prosecutor at the Ecuadorian national’s hearing.
“The powerful are doing what they want and the poor are suffering what they must … Why do you want to enforce this order? It makes no difference in terms of the larger issues facing the country,” he added.
ICE agents arrested Villavicencio on June 1 for failing to produce a legal driver’s license when he tried to gain access to a Brooklyn military base to deliver a pizza.
A soldier called immigration officials on Villavicencio, and military police detained the illegal alien until ICE officials arrived.
When officers conducted a routine background check, they found the illegal alien pizza delivery man had a warrant out for his arrest for violating federal immigration laws.
An immigration judge issued Villavicencio a voluntary departure order in March 2010, but the Ecuadorian national never left as ordered. Villavicencio filed an application to stay in the U.S. after he married a woman who is a U.S. citizen and had two daughters — ages two and four — who are both U.S. citizens.
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