Feds Drop Fight Against Freeing Of Immigrant Pizza Man

NEW YORK — The federal government on Friday dropped its appeal of a court order that freed Pablo Villavicencio, the immigrant pizza deliveryman arrested by immigration authorities at a Brooklyn military base this summer.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement picked up Villavicencio, a father of two and citizen of Ecuador, while he was on a pizza delivery to Fort Hamilton Army Base in June. The arrest caused an uproar among local officials and immigrant-rights advocates, who argued the Trump administration's immigration dragnet had ensnared a man working to support his family.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty ordered ICE to release Villavicencio in July as he seeks legal permanent residency in the U.S. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office moved to appeal that decision on Wednesday, but reversed course by withdrawing the appeal on Friday.

Documents filed in court Friday do not explain the shift, and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office declined to elaborate. But the move was welcomed by the Legal Aid Society, which represented Villavicencio in court.

"We are glad that today the Federal Government fully withdrew their challenge to Mr. Villavicencio’s hard-won release from immigration detention and his opportunity to pursue lawful status," Adriene Holder, the attorney-in-charge of Legal Aid's Civil Practice, said in a statement.

Legal Aid will continue to represent Villavicencio with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP as he works to gain legal status and stay in the U.S. with his family, Holder added.

Villavicencio spent nearly two months detained by ICE at New Jersey's Hudson County Correctional Facility, missing a wedding anniversary, Father's Day and the birthday of one of his daughters.

ICE planned to deport Villavicencio, whom the agency a "fugitive" because he failed to leave the country voluntarily in 2010 as he was ordered to. But he had filed an initial petition for permanent residency through his wife Sandra Chica, a U.S. citizen, in February, several months before he was arrested.

Crotty ruled that Villavicencio should be allowed to continue the journey toward legal status that he had already started. "Although he stayed in the United States unlawfully and is currently subject to a final order of removal, he has otherwise been a model citizen," his July 24 order said.

"By dropping its appeal of a court order freeing Pablo Villavicencio, the federal government is admitting what we already knew—there was absolutely no legitimate reason to lock Mr. Villavicencio up and take him away from his family," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement Friday.

An ICE spokeswoman had no comment on the withdrawl of the appeal.

(Lead image: Pablo Villavicencio, left, and his family meet with City Councilman Justin Brannan (D-Bay Ridge) in August. Photo by John McCarten/New York City Council)