Video Shows Emotional Reunion For Pizza Driver After ICE Arrest

KEARNY, NJ — Pablo Villavicencio paused, ready to get into a car where his overjoyed wife and daughters waited. And it was then that the pizza delivery driver – who had just been released from a 53-day stay at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny – let his heart come pouring out.

“I’m very happy to be free,” the father of two gushed in Spanish, blinking and swallowing as he tried to keep his emotions in check. “I’m happy to be reunited with my wife and children.” (Watch videos below)

It’s a temporary but significant victory for Villavicencio, 35, who rallied a network of community groups, civil rights activists and pro-immigration supporters after his controversial arrest at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents last month.

Federal agents arrested Villavicencio after he delivered a pizza to the Fort Hamilton military base on General Lee Avenue in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, on June 1. A guard called ICE after Villavincencio used a municipal ID card to gain entry into the base, which prompted the guard to quiz the husband and father of two daughters about his immigration status, Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported.

• See related article: Man Delivered A Pizza. The Guy Who Got It Called ICE On Him.

Immigration agents arrived and took Villavincencio — an Ecuadorian native married to a U.S. citizen — to the Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey, which is one of several prisons in the area that contract with ICE to house undocumented immigrants awaiting possible deportation.

• See related article: Hudson County Renews ICE Contract At 'Inhumane' Jail

Federal authorities previously classified Villavincencio as an " ICE fugitive" because he didn’t leave the United States after an immigration judge ordered him to leave voluntarily in March 2010. Prosecutors argued that Villavincencio needed to be kept in custody while his immigration case played out.

A federal judge disagreed.

On Tuesday evening, U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty ordered that Villavicencio be immediately released from ICE custody. Crotty also put a stay on Villavicencio’s deportation while the father of two seeks legal permanent residency in the U.S.

"Although [Villavicencio] stayed in the United States unlawfully and is currently subject to a final order of removal, he has otherwise been a model citizen," Crotty wrote. “He now has two children, both of whom are United States citizens. He has no criminal history. He has paid his taxes. And he has worked diligently to provide for his family.”

During a previous hearing about the jurisdiction of the case, Crotty questioned assistant U.S. attorney Joseph Cordaro about why Villavicencio should be deported:

“The powerful are doing what they want, and the poor are suffering what they must… I mean, is there any concept of justice here or are we just doing this because we want to? Why do we want to enforce the order? It makes no difference in terms of the larger issues facing the country.”

Villavicencio reportedly entered the United States 10 years ago and applied for a green card in February. His wife Sandra Chica, a U.S. citizen, filed a petition that month asking the government to recognize him as her spouse, the first of three forms needed in the process.

• See related article: Immigrant Pizza Man To Be Freed From ICE Custody, Judge Orders

It’s not certain whether authorities will grant Villavicencio’s request to stay in the U.S. with his family. But for now, civil rights and immigration activists are chalking up his release as a major victory.

Spokespeople with the Legal Aid Society, which filed the habeas corpus motion that freed Villavicencio, said that the “rule of law, humanity and morality” prevailed on Tuesday.

“This decision should serve as a rebuke against the Trump Administration and its merciless crusade to tear families apart,” said Adriene Holder, Attorney-In-Charge of the Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society.

Holder said that the ruling was an affirmation that the courts can still serve as a check on the executive branch of government when it breaks with the nation’s laws and principles.

“The Villavicencio family has finally received a crucial measure of relief from their 53-day nightmare and we will continue to fight alongside them to protect their right to remain in the community they call home,” Holder said.

With previous reporting by Tom Davis and Noah Manskar, Patch Staff

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Photo: YouTube / CBS New York