Terrorizing of Immigrant Community Continues as ICE Arrest of Pizza Delivery Man Sends 'Shock Waves'

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Common Dreams

Published on
Wednesday, June 06, 2018
byCommon Dreams

Pablo Villavicencio presented a city ID card while delivering a pizza to a military base—but a soldier deemed the ID insufficient and called ICE to detain him

by Julia Conley, staff writer


Local officials in New York are demanding the release of a man who was arrested after a soldier at a U.S. military base called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the pizza delivery man while he was working in Brooklyn earlier this week.

The arrest of Pablo Villavicencio—who is married to a U.S. citizen and is the father of two young daughters—was "sending shock waves throughout the immigrant community," said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams at a press conference on Wednesday.

Villavicencio was delivering a pizza to Fort Hamilton Army Base on Friday, June 1, when a soldier asked to see his identification. According to City University of New York professor Angus Johnston, Villavicencio presented a New York City ID card, which was introduced in 2015 to benefit community members who are unable to apply for driver's licenses, including undocumented immigrants. When the ID he presented was deemed insufficient, the soldier called immigration officials to detain him.

. . .

"How is it possible that now, in New York City, soldiers are changing their role to that of intermediaries for immigration agents?" Chica said to the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario.

Read more: https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/06/terrorizing-immigrant-community-continues-ice-arrest-pizza-delivery-man-sends-shock

[Thomas Hurt]

1. Is this a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act?

[Sanity Claws]

2. No more deliveries for that base

If I had a business in the area, I would certainly think twice before delivering anything to these folks. I wouldn't want my delivery person detained because the guy on the base had a suspicion.

[SeattleVet]

3. Unfortunately, if a business like that is close to a base...

a large chunk of their business usually comes from the base. If they stop delivering there, they may as well close their doors.

When I was in the Air Force, one of the biggest threats to a local business like that was to have themselves declared Off Limits and barred from delivering on-base.

No business that depends on income from the base would voluntarily cut their own throats by refusing to deliver.

[Solly Mack]

4. I think it an asshole move but to clarify a few points

1 - You have to have a legitimate ID to enter a military post. Everyone does. Everyone. This can be a state ID, a DL, a school ID (depending), or a passport. If you're military/retired military/dependents/civilian employee/contractor - you have one issued by the military.

2 - Pizza (all) delivery people who are using cars to deliver MUST show their DL. You MUST be legally able to drive to drive on a military post. If the gate guard knows you came in a car, they can demand your DL as the ID they need - because Duh. Why are you driving otherwise?

3 - Unless Fort Hamilton has a different policy, no one is obligated to call ICE. Outside law enforcement (of any type) is usually never called unless a background check shows a warrant or "hit" or some kind. The majority of time a person is simply denied access. They leave - no harm, no foul. But a lot of delivery people do lose their jobs if they are unable to deliver onto a military post if the business does a lot of trade on the post.


I think the soldier was being an asshole and did what he did out of prejudice and spite. A lot of citizens drive without a DL so you can't assume someone is undocumented simply because they don't have one. That soldier wanted to be an asshole, it sounds to me. It's not the soldiers job to questions someone's citizenship unless a background check gives them cause.

That said, anyone is authorized to call ICE if they suspect undocumented neighbors, co-workers, whatever.

You can do it - but you're not obligated to do it.

So, to do it, you have to want to do it. And if you want to do it - then I think maybe you're a mean, spiteful asshole.


The soldier could have called the local police for suspicion of driving w/o a DL. He could have also detained him if the soldier was an MP. Not everyone who works the gate is an MP. He could have delayed long enough to call an MP and the MP could detain until local LE got there.

But calling ICE? Total asshole move.

If the delivery person was not in a car, then that simply compounds the soldier's assholishness.


I'm in an area that has an undocumented community but it never enters my head to think of the people I pass daily or interact with daily as undocumented. My mind simply doesn't go there. I know they exist - but my eyes never see them because that kind of meanness isn't in my heart.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

5. Whoever this soldier is

He over-stepped the boundaries of his authority.

I remember that if a business near Base violated conventions, the CO would determine them "off limits" and if anyone in or out of uniform showed up there, they were looking at brig time. In small towns this could make or break a business. Needless to say, most businesses cleaned up their acts and stayed off the list.