The Palm Beach pizzeria manager facing deportation to Mexico because of mistakes he made as a young man has been granted a four-month reprieve by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Francisco Javier Gonzalez, who was to face an immigration hearing this month has been given until Aug. 30th, allowing him more time to spend with his wife and three daughters, his lawyer Richard Hujber told The Palm Beach Daily News.
"I think giving him that kind of time was appropriate. I think they treated him well. They knew about the case," Hujber told The Palm Beach Daily News.
Gonzalez, 36, is the longtime manager of the popular Pizza Al Fresco restaurant, which is two miles north of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago country club, and his potential ouster is the result of the commander in chief’s zero-tolerance immigration policy.
He came to the U.S. at age 15 to live with his brother and after high school, returned to Mexico to visit his parents in 2001. When Gonzalez flew back, he was told his visa was not valid and was deported and banned from returning for five years.
But he crossed the border illegally during that time. And despite his marriage to a U.S. citizen, the illegal crossing has stopped him from obtaining a green card. In 2016, Gonzalez received an "administrative stay," officials now say he is subject to ouster again.
"I made a dumb mistake," says Gonzalez, who has attended immigration meetings for several years in an attempt to make amends.
His dilemma has triggered a Change.org petition drive to stop the deportation, which as of Thursday has more than 101,400 signatures. It states: "Francisco speaks perfect English and has NO CRIMINAL HISTORY IN THE US or any other country in the world. He obtained his education, works hard, pays his taxes and lives an exemplary life abiding by all U.S. laws.’’
Gonzalez has three daughters, ages 10, 7 and 5, and he and other Palm Beach residents are worried how the family will cope if he is deported.
Earlier this month, billionaire Burt Handelsman, a 90-year-old real-estate mogul known as "the Mayor of Worth Avenue," asked the Palm Beach Town Council to draft a letter to Trump, asking him to stop immigration officials from ousting Gonzalez.
"[Gonzalez is] the American dream … I think he’s a major asset to this town," Handelsman told the Palm Beach Town Council.
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