Judge frees pizza deliveryman seized by ICE while doing his job

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Judge frees pizza deliveryman seized by ICE while doing his job

By Meagan Flynn
July 25 at 6:19 AM

A federal judge ordered the immediate release of a New York City pizza deliveryman from immigration custody Tuesday, calling the undocumented Ecuadoran immigrant a “model citizen” and pointedly questioning the U.S. government’s desire to immediately deport him.

Pablo Villavicencio, father of two U.S. citizens, was arrested June 1 while delivering pasta to a Brooklyn military base, where Army security officers questioned his identification and alerted immigration authorities. At the time of his arrest, he was in the middle of seeking legal status. But the U.S. government sought to deport him as soon as possible, causing uproar among activists and public officials alike.

U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty’s decision, however, stays Villavicencio’s removal so that he can continue pursuing permanent residency. To deny him that opportunity, Crotty wrote in the order, would violate his rights.

“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,” Crotty, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote in the order. “Petitioner married .?.?. a United States citizen. He now has two children, both of whom are United States citizens. He has no criminal history. He has paid his taxes. And he has worked diligently to provide for his family.”

Crotty’s decision came hours after oral arguments in the case Tuesday afternoon, a hearing that drew scores of protesters outside the federal courthouse in Manhattan. The government argued that Villavicencio could continue his bid for a green card in Ecuador — but Crotty, unconvinced by the government’s justification for deporting him, questioned what purpose this would serve in the interest of justice.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/07/25/is-there-any-concept-of-justice-outraged-judge-blocks-deportation-of-pizza-deliveryman/

[hedda_foil]

1. What happened to the policy that marrying a citizen automatically confers legal status/green card?

When did that go away?

[mantis49]

3. It's not automatic.

My daughter married a British citizen. Part of the process is proving that you did not marry just to provide the immigrant with legal status/ green card.

[Quemado]

4. It's not automatic, part 2

I am a U.S. citizen. I married a woman from a foreign country. There is a process to acquiring permanent residency for a foreigner who marries a U.S. citizen. The process is not automatic.

I do not know if there ever was a time when marrying a citizen automatically conferred permanent residency.

[lame54]

5. You obviously don't watch romantic comedies

[hedda_foil]

7. Thanks for clarifying it. I suppose that the spouse has to enter the country legally as well.

[Thomas Hurt]

2. but but but he has brown skin.....

illegal means illegal (sarcasm)


blah blah, blah...

[hunter]

6. If someone has a job in the U.S.A. they are presumably contributing to the common good.

Otherwise everything we believe about market economies is absolute rubbish.

The immigration problem would go away if we had strong labor laws.

As it stands now immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, are treated as easily abused and disposable workers.