Governor Andrew Cuomo pardoned Baba Sillah, who had been working and paying taxes for 17 years, until he was suddenly arrested.
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Sillah is now home in the Bronx with his five children - and his wife, a U.S. citizen.
"I was thinking about it like...I don't know how to say it, but it was rough," Sillah said.
"Right now I cannot talk. I cannot say nothing. Only thanks everybody," added Sillah's wife, Mamou Drame.
Sillah was detained by ICE in January after he appeared for a routine immigration appointment, just as he had been doing for 17 years. His lawyers say at one point he was on a plane, moments from being deported to his native Gambia.
"He was minutes away. It was minutes. The judge's order came in. I think at some time around 7:57, and when does the gate close before the flight takes off? Not long after that," said Attorney Gregory Copeland.
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"Most people have never given up, but we have fought for many, many of our members. Our non-citizen members, and we have become very adept," said Ravi Ragbir of the New Sanctuary Coalition.
On Friday Governor Cuomo pardoned Sillah for convictions dating back more than a decade - low-level misdemeanors and violations from when he worked as an unlicensed clothing vendor.
Sillah's wife is a U.S. citizen, and he has paid taxes for 15 years.
Governor Cuomo said in a statement,
"While President Trump tries to build his wall and tear communities apart, we will always strive to uphold the values embodied by the Lady in our Harbor."
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Sillah's wife says she never lost hope.
"I always told them he will be back. Please. 'Daddy will come back.' I always told them that," Drame said.
Sillah works as a porter. He says he will take the weekend off, then head back to work on Monday.
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