Governor Cuomo offers free legal help to pizza deliveryman facing deportation

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is offering free legal help to a pizza delivery man who was detained by immigration authorities when he tried to deliver an order to a military base in Brooklyn.

Cuomo is offering to pay for Pablo Villavicencio's legal fees through the Legal Defense Project.

"Detaining a hardworking man, separating a father from his children and tearing apart communities doesn't make America safe, and a wrong minded immigration policy grounded in bias and cruelty doesn't make America great," Gov. Cuomo said in a statement.

Villavicencio was detained by ICE officials on June 1 when he tried to deliver a pizza to the Fort Hamilton military base in Brooklyn.

When Villavicencio arrived on the base he was directed to the Visitor Control Center to get a daily pass, according to a statement sent to ABC News by the Fort Hamilton base.

He signed a waiver permitting a background check, and officials were notified that an active ICE warrant was on his file, the statement said.

“The arrest of Pablo with a municipal ID is sending shockwaves throughout the immigrant community,” Brooklyn Borough president Eric Adams told reporters at a press conference Wednesday. “It was alright to take his pizza but it was also alright to put him in prison.”

ICE released a statement saying Villavicencio was granted voluntary departure by an immigration judge in 2010 but failed to depart the country by the July date that was ordered.

His voluntary order became a final order of removal and became an ICE fugitive, according to the statement. He is in ICE custody pending removal.