Girl, 4, begs ICE: Release my daddy
The 4-year-old daughter of a pizza deliveryman detained by ICE in June begged for her dad’s release on Monday as he faces his next immigration hearing.
“I want my father not to be over there any more,” Luciana Villavicencio said at a City Hall press conference.
“I want him to be home every day. I want him to be in my home. When we go to visit, he cries a lot. So tomorrow I ask that he comes [home] now,” she said.
Undocumented immigrant Pablo Villavicencio was taken into custody by ICE while delivering an order to the Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn on June 1.
The Ecuador native is set to face an immigration judge on Tuesday.
His family is hoping he can be released from federal detention as he pursues permanent residency.
“As a mother, as a citizen, as a wife — please keep in mind that Pablo hasn’t done anything bad,” said his wife, Sandra Chic, who is an American citizen.
“He just wants to move his family forward. Please don’t separate him from his daughters, who love him and have suffered so much because of this,” Chic said.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson implored the courts to release Villavicencio.
“This is not a complicated issue. This is an issue of simple morality,” Johnson said.