CALIFORNIA – A beloved ice cream seller who spent three decades serving his California neighborhood is being deported, and the news has left his community heartbroken. Residents quickly rallied behind him, raising more than $30,000 in donations to help his family start over in Mexico.
Three Decades of Service, Then Deportation
The man, known as Francisco, first faced immigration issues in 2017 when he was detained for seven months in a federal facility. Despite years of appeals in multiple courts, a judge ultimately issued a removal order, giving him 30 days to appeal. Instead, Francisco decided it was time to leave what he called a “beautiful country.”
UPDATE: GoFundMe will be posted soon, Cashapp is stopping transactions from going through. Venmo is still working, thank you so so much. I can’t even begin to comprehend the overwhelming outpouring of support and love via kind words, offers of help, and donations, which I would have never imagined. God bless ❤️❤️❤️ Original caption: My dad asked me to make this video for his San Diego community due to the sheer amount of people that he came to know as a paletero. My mom, who is also being deported, will be giving her own goodbyes to her community in-person. To anyone who ever bought ice cream from my dad, gave him words of encouragement or just said hello, to those who became his friends, his family, su gente y su pueblo: thank you. God bless 🙏🏽❤️ #DiosPrimero #paletero #immigrantparents #echandoleganassiempre #daygo
♬ original sound – Chely | Latina Engineer ❤️…