Freshman Rep. Mondaire Jones stepped in to halt the deportation of a Haitian man from Spring Valley.

Paul Pierrilus, of Spring Valley, was about to be deported by immigration officials to Haiti, a country he’s never visited.

"Thankfully with moments to spare, the handcuffs were taken off Mr. Pierrilus on the tarmac before he was to be deported,” says Jones.

Pierrilus, a financial consultant, has been in the county since 2006 on an order of supervision. The order of supervision is a status assigned to non-citizens who have violated U.S. immigration laws, even minor ones.

News 12 is told the Spring Valley man was taken into custody on Jan. 11 when he reported for a routine status check at the New York City field office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Jones says he is not going to shy away from going to bat for constituents.

"I'm proud to be a member of Congress who is responsive to these issues,” says Jones.

President Joe Biden’s executive order halts all deportations for 100 days, and it goes into effect on Friday.

Spring Valley Village Board Trustee Eudson Tyson-Francois spoke with the Pierrilus family.

"That is a real problem with our patchwork system of immigration laws and regulations,” says Francois. “It's why we need a humane immigration system.”