A Long Island man arrested by immigration authorities while delivering pizza to the Fort Hamilton Army base in Brooklyn has filed for an emergency stay of deportation.
As News 12 has reported, Pablo Villavicencio is from Ecuador, but his wife and children are United States citizens.
When he showed guards at Fort Hamilton his IDNYC card last week, they refused to accept it and summoned immigration agents, who detained him and locked him up in New Jersey.
Incensed by the move, Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding an investigation into the tactics of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Jennifer Williams, a Legal Aid Society lawyer who is representing Villavicencio in the case, says her client has faith in the justice system.
"ICE may feel confident in his position, its legal position, but our client's confidence in the judiciary and as well as the will of the American people is stronger," she says.
Villavicencio, who is seeking American citizenship, was first ordered to leave the country voluntarily in 2010. He failed to do so.
If immigration authorities get their way, he could be deported Monday. If the court grants a stay, he can remain in the country as he tries to fight the removal.