A rally taking place outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement offices in Hartford, CT in support of Nelson Pinos, who was not granted a stay of deportation. The protesters are asking the federal government to allow Pinos to go home to his family in time for the holidays (Photo Credit: WFSB-TV)
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Supporters of a man from Ecuador facing deportation have blocked the doors of the federal building in Hartford, Connecticut.
About 20 people holding signs and banners sat down in front of the building Friday morning in support of 44-year-old Nelson Pinos.
They are demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement allow Pinos to go home to his family in time for the holidays.
Pinos was ordered to leave the U.S. a few weeks before Christmas last year. He instead sought sanctuary in a New Haven church.
Pinos, a resident of New Haven, has been living in the U.S. illegally since 1992. He is married and the father of three American citizen children.
Supporters say his situation has caused "urgent and documented" psychological harm to his children.
Police are on the scene.
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