Give them back their dadd y
Heart-wrenching Father’s Day plea from wife of detained deliveryman:
Sandra Chica is urging President Trump’s administration to have a heart and return her husband, Pablo Villavicencio, to his daughters, Luciana (left) and Antonia (right).
Today is Father’s Day, and this is the first time my two little girls will spend it without their father, Pablo Villavicencio. They made handwritten cards and drawings telling him how much they love him, but sadly they won’t be able to give them to him.
Just a little over two weeks ago, Pablo was arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after delivering a pizza to the Fort Hamilton Army base, where he had gone before without any problem.
He was thrown into detention, and it seemed he would quickly be deported back to Ecuador — a country he has not seen in almost a decade.
Fortunately, a federal judge halted his deportation to allow his lawyers more time to fight his case. However, he remains in immigration custody at Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey.
His sudden arrest by ICE is suspicious, and his continued detention is cruel and unjust. His daughters need him. I need him. Our family should not be separated. His absence leaves a huge hole in the hearts of our family and our community. It feels like a death in the family.
Not only is Pablo our main provider, but he is a devoted and loving father who takes great care of our daughters. Our youngest daughter has medical issues and suffers from a congenital heart defect. Pablo has never missed her doctor or cardiologist appointments. Without him here, I have suddenly become a single mom and am struggling with all the responsibilities that I shared with my husband. His detention is a punishment that the whole family feels in many ways.
Pablo has no criminal record. He is not a flight risk. He is not a danger to anybody. He is a good man, loving father and devoted husband. We are trying to make sure that our family remains united by pursuing his green card application. His continued detention serves no real purpose other than to punish me and my daughters.
I have visited Pablo a few times at the Hudson County jail. Pablo describes a scene where individuals are deported daily. Like him, many of these people came to this country to provide a better life for their families. It is shocking that a government can behave like this and separate loved ones.
When Pablo speaks to our daughters over the phone, we cry. The pain of being ripped away from our family is unspeakable.
We have truly been touched by the outpouring of support from New Yorkers and across the world for Pablo and our family. Pablo knows that many of you are rooting for him, and that gives him the strength with each passing day away from his daughters.
But as long as he remains detained, the heartache will continue.
On Wednesday, our oldest daughter will celebrate her fourth birthday. Pablo will likely not be there, and she’ll be wondering why. I’m sure that all fathers reading this can imagine the pain they’d feel missing these important days with their beautiful children.
ICE can make this right, and they have the authority to release Pablo at any moment they choose, so that he can continue working on his immigration case from home, not from jail. This is my plea to ICE: Release Pablo back to his family immediately.