The Palm Beach pizzeria manager facing deportation to Mexico because of mistakes he made as a young man has received a three-month extension from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Father-of-three Francisco Javier Gonzalez will be able to remain in the United States as he awaits the outcomes of several court petitions filed on his behalf. He must report back to ICE on Nov. 5, his lawyer Rebeca Sanchez-Roig told The Palm Beach Daily News.
Gonzalez, who manages the popular Pizza Al Fresco restaurant – two miles north of north of President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club – had been ordered by ICE to return to his native Mexico under the commander in chief's zero-tolerance immigration policy.
The 37-year-old immigrant 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 he 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," Gonzalez, who has attended immigration meetings for several years in an attempt to make amends, has said.
An online petition to keep him from being deported has more than 133,000 signatures.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.