The military base that called ICE on a pizza delivery man gets boycotted by area restaurants

After Pablo Villavicencio was detained by ICE while delivering a pizza to a Brooklyn military base, restaurants in the area are thinking twice before sending their delivery people.

Speaking to The Pluralist, Rafi Cohen of ​Orders2.me says that many restaurants in the area are requesting that no food orders be processed for the base.

“I can’t comment or list any specific restaurants. I can say that we have received several calls…with request to…remove the Fort Hamilton Army Base from their delivery zones,” Cohen said, adding that the the establishments will “no longer deliver food there.”

On June 1, the 32-year-old Villavicencio was delivering food to Fort Hamilton military base in Brooklyn, New York. Upon entering the base, he was asked for identification. When he could not present the identification the officer asked for, Immigration and Customs Enforcement were called and he was arrested.

According to BuzzFeed, base spokesperson Cathy SantoPietro said in a statement that ICE was called because Villavicencio tried to make a delivery “without valid Department of Defense identification.”

“Commanders are authorized to take reasonably necessary and lawful measures to maintain law and order and protect installation personnel and property,” the statement from SantoPietro concluded.

Villavicencio, who has a wife and two daughters who are American citizens, is an undocumented immigrant with a pending green card application.

His wife, Sandra Chica, called on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to make sure all New Yorkers regardless of immigration status to have access to driver’s licenses.

“We ask Governor Cuomo to access to a driver’s license to all others so they don’t have to suffer this situation,” Chica said in a video posted to Twitter by an immigrant advocacy group.

The New York Post reports that two New York congresswomen have taken up Villavicencio’s cause.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn) tweeted part of a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in which she and Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-LI) said Pablo Villavicencio was nabbed “while simply trying to do his job.”

“Mr. Villavicencio is dedicated to his wife, Sandra and their two young daughters — all of whom are U.S. citizens,” the letter says.

“He should be allowed to return home to Long Island so that he can continue providing for his family.”

Velazquez tweeted: “His arrest was unwarranted and immoral!”

Governor Cuomo also cast his voice into the mix, asking the Department of Homeland Security to launch an investigation into the “disgraceful and, in many cases, illegal tactics used by ICE.”

Featured image via Facebook

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.