A Donald Trump supporter is facing the risk of deportation under the president's new immigration policy.
Francisco Javier Gonzalez, the Mexican-born manager of the Pizza Al Fresco restaurant in Palm Beach, had hoped that Trump would win the 2016 presidential election.
"I knew that 90 percent of my customers wanted him to be the president, and I had a feeling that it was good for us, for the economy, and I thought that people would be happy and spend more money," Gonzalez recently told The Intercept.
Gonzalez, 36, has lived in the United States since he was 15 years old, according to the Palm Beach Post. He has no criminal record, is married to a U.S. citizen and is father to three daughters who were born in the United States.
For years, he has routinely checked in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Broward County. ICE granted him a deportation stay in 2016. But now he faces the threat of deportation under the Trump administration, which has enforced immigration laws more aggressively than previous administrations.
"When you cross the border illegally, you don’t think of any of it — you’re just looking for a better life, you want to be at a better place," Gonzalez told The Intercept. "You don’t think you’re committing a crime."
Gonzalez has received a small reprieve. He was scheduled to check in with ICE officers again in July, which could have lead to his deportation. But the meeting has been delayed for three months after an outcry.
