Judge calls 'zero tolerance' immigration policy 'cruel'

A New York judge, who ordered an Ecuadorean immigrant who delivered pizza to an Army installation freed from an immigration detention camp, has said the government was applying its "zero tolerance" policy toward illegal entry in a "thoughtless and cruel" manner.

US District Judge Paul Crotty explained yesterday in a written opinion why he ordered Pablo Villavicencio freed last week from a detention center in New Jersey.

He also nullified a "supervised release" order Villavicencio was told to sign before he was freed that set special conditions he must follow.

In the opinion, Crotty took a swipe at the government's decision to separate some children from their parents at the Mexican border and then transport the children to New York, saying he did not believe "this is accidental or random."
"This is especially so where the organization seeking removal has also provided a pathway for a person in petitioner's position to regularize his immigration status with minimal disruption to his family life."
He added that Villavicencio "deserves it due to his hard work, his dedication to the family, and his clean criminal record."
The judge called Villavicencio's arrest a "mercurial exercise of executive power."