Ecuadorian Reunites With His Family After Being Detained By Immigration

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The New York pizza delivery boy who was detained by immigration authorities in May has reunited with his family after a judge suspended his deportation.

A video posted by New York Post journalist Joe Marino shows Pablo Villavicencio's emotional reunion with his wife, daughters, and other family members.

“I'm fine… very happy for my wife, my daughters, my lawyers. Thank you! Thanks for everything,”Villavicencio told the New York Post.

Villavicencio, who entered the country illegally from Ecuador in 2008, was released on Tuesday after spending nearly two months in an immigration detention center.

The delivery man, who has no criminal record, received an open deportation order in 2010, but did not leave the country. He has been married to a naturalized citizen since 2013, and has applied for permanent residence.

Villavicencio was detained by the Immigration and Customs Service after trying to deliver a pizza to a Brooklyn military base. One of the soldiers called the agency when he was unable to show identification.

United States District Judge Paul Crotty ordered Villaviencio's release and ruled Tuesday that he can stay in the country while continuing to seek legal status.

The Ecuadorian was released from the Hudson County jail after a judge ordered the removal of his deportation order he had had since 2010.