Ecuadorian Father Arrested After Delivering Pizza At Military Base In New York

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

An undocumented immigrant who worked as a delivery man was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after trying to deliver a pizza to a military base in Brooklyn, New York.

Ecuadorian Pablo Villavicencio, the father of two young daughters, was arrested Friday while delivering an order to the Fort Hamilton base, south of Brooklyn, according to local media.

An ICE spokeswoman told the New York Post that a deportation order issued by a judge in 2010 was weighing on Villavicencio. The immigrant's family, whose wife and daughters are US citizens, say they had applied for residency.

Speaking to the Post, Villavicencio was shocked at the fact that a routine delivery has put him on the path to deportation. "I've been there before and I've always come in and I've never had any problems, actually they know me and the sergeant has known me for a long time making deliveries," he said.

But on his last visit to the base, the story was different. "Last Friday there was another security guard and he said he had to go get another pass to enter," he said. "And I proceeded to do that. A tall dark-skinned man started asking me a lot of questions, he asked me why I didn't have a Social Security card.”

According to Villavicencio, it was that military man who called the New York Police Department (NYPD). "The New York Police Department told him that he had no [background] record, that I was clean. But the man said, 'I don't care,' he said. I need to keep waiting and called ICE."

A Fort Hamilton spokesperson confirmed that at approximately 11 am Friday, "an individual attempted to gain access to Fort Hamilton to make a delivery without valid Defense Department identification."

“The person was sent to the Visitor Control Center to obtain a daily pass. After signing a waiver allowing a background check, the Army department's access control standard for all visitors, an active Immigration and Customs order was discovered in the file,”the spokesperson said. "Personnel from the Department of Emergency Services to contact the appropriate authorities, and transport the person to DES for further processing, and they are released to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service."

Villavicencio is currently being held at a detention center in New Jersey, sparking protests and complaints from members of the Brooklyn Hispanic community and elected officials from the Big Apple, which is considered a sanctuary city.

New York City Councilman Justin Brannan and Brooklyn District President Eric Adams on Wednesday showed their rejection of the Army's performance in this case.

"Tell me how this can be American," Brannan tweeted, along with a family photo of Villavicencio. “Tell me how taking Pablo off the streets makes our nation safer. I hear you".