Support for detained pizza delivery man grows as hearing approaches

<p>Pablo Villavicencio's wife, Sandra, says she's having a hard time explaining to their two daughters where their father is and why he can't come home.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jul 10, 2018, 8:38 PM

Updated 2,124 days ago

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It's been 40 days since immigration agents detained a Brooklyn pizza delivery man who was on the job bringing food to the Fort Hamilton Army base, and his next hearing date is still two weeks away.
Pablo Villavicencio's wife, Sandra Chica, says she's having a hard time explaining to their two daughters where their father is and why he can't come home.
"He is not eating well," she says. "Sometimes he is scared. We are still positive, and we are still fighting, but this has been like a really long nightmare, a long month for all of us."
Villavicencio is scheduled to learn whether or not he can stay in the United States at a July 24 hearing in Manhattan. He's currently in custody at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in New Jersey.
New Yorkers, including Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have rallied on his behalf. In an open letter, the governor called for his release. 
And a number of New York City Council members, including Justin Brennan and Carlos Menchaca, have asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and the courts to let him stay in the country.
As News 12 has reported, Villavicencio's wife and children are all American citizens.
During his detention, he's missed Father's Day, a daughter's birthday and his fifth wedding anniversary.


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