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A Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday ordered that an illegal Ecuadorian immigrant who had been arrested while delivering pizza to a Brooklyn military base was immediately released.
In his judgment on Tuesday, Judge Paul Crotty said that immigrant Pablo Villavicencio Calderon had stayed illegally in the United States, but was otherwise a model citizen. "He has no criminal record, he has paid his taxes," the judge wrote. "And he worked diligently to support his family."
The
Villavicencio, 35, was arrested last month while delivering a restoration order to the Fort Hamilton military base in Brooklyn. His arrest and detention sparked widespread publicity and an outcry from many activists and elected officials, including
Governor Andrew Cuomo,
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Mayor of New York
Bill of Blasio,
all the democrats.
At a hearing on Tuesday morning, Judge Crotty asked how Mr. Villavicencio's detention served immigration policy.
"The powerful do what they want, and the poor suffer from what they must," he said, referring to pressure from the federal immigration authorities to expel the deliveryman. "Is there a sense of justice here?"
Last month, lawyers representing Mr. Villavicencio filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his detention. They argued that Mr. Villavicencio had not received good legal advice when dealing with previous immigration issues and that his deportation would cause harm to his family.
million. Villavicencio, who came to the United States in 2008 and lives in Hempstead, NY, is married to an American citizen and has two female citizens. A girl has a congenital heart defect and is treated in New York, according to court documents.
On Tuesday, Mr. Villavicencio, who was detained at the Hudson County Correctional Center in Kearny, NJ, did not appear in court.
His wife, Sandra Chica, sat in the front row in the courtroom with their two and four year old daughters. The girls tidied the toys on a wooden divider separating the audience from the avocados, creating the appearance of a miniature menagerie – a rainbow-printed leopard, a stuffed unicorn, two tiny princess dolls, and a plastic troll – looking at the judge [19659005] Ms. Chica has filed an application which is a first step towards the legality of her husband staying in the United States. Villavicencio had an interview with immigration authorities next month, his lawyers said
. Government lawyers argue that Mr. Villavicencio is illegally in the United States and therefore he is breaking the law. In 2010, an immigration judge told him to leave the country, they say, but he stayed.
At Tuesday's hearing, Justice Crotty asked why the government wanted to expel Mr. Villavicencio so quickly. in the country and its immigration policy by allowing him to finish a process that is quite accessible to him? He asked. "If he is expelled, he will be deprived of it".
Joseph Cordaro, Assistant Attorney for the United States, said that Mr. Villavicencio could continue the process of immigration to Ecuador.
In his written decision released Tuesday night, Crotty J. also temporarily postponed Mr. Villavicencio's expulsion while he was pursuing his legal status.
A spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan declined to comment. Adriene Holder, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, representing Villavicencio, said "the rule of law, humanity and morality have prevailed".
Write to Corinne Ramey at Corinne.Ramey@wsj .com
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