(NATIONAL CITY, CA) A beloved deported paletero who spent nearly three decades selling ice cream in San Diego was removed to Mexico with his wife on September 22, 2025, ending an eight-year legal fight that began with the family’s detention in May 2017, his daughter said. The couple is now settling in Tijuana after a viral farewell that drew thousands of messages and donations to a GoFundMe organized to help them start over.
The daughter, Aracely Duarte Perez, said the family had exhausted every legal avenue to stop the deportation before the order took effect on September 22, 2025. She organized a GoFundMe campaign from National City to help cover housing and living expenses as her parents transition to life across the border. > “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, especially via TikTok and the community. God bless ❤️❤️❤️,” said Aracely, who is a college student. She added that her father asked for a TikTok farewell so he could thank the people he served for so many years.
The deported paletero’s full name was not provided in the family’s public posts, but his story resonated across San Diego as neighbors recognized the familiar man who pushed his cart through local streets for decades. In the video shared by Aracely, the family addressed the community with a simple message of gratitude. > “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 ❤️,” Aracely wrote alongside the clip, reflecting her father’s request to say goodbye.
The removal marks the close of a long and draining immigration case that began when the family was detained in May 2017, according to Aracely. Over eight years, the parents attended hearings, filed appeals, and sought to cancel their deportation, but the effort ended this month with the notice to depart. While the family did not release specific legal documents, immigration cases of this kind typically move through the immigration courts overseen by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. Aracely said the family had “exhausted all legal avenues” before the final decision was carried out.
In San Diego, the paletero had become part of the daily rhythm of neighborhoods, neighbors said online, remembered for calling out flavors and pausing to chat with customers in front yards and on sidewalks. His daughter’s TikTok post — framed by thanks in both English and Spanish — quickly spread as local residents recognized him and shared stories of buying popsicles and ice cream bars over the years. The word “paletero” means a vendor who sells paletas, or popsicles, often from a pushcart. For many in San Diego, the sight and sound of his bell marked summers and after-school hours for nearly thirty years.
Aracely said both parents were deported together, a move that has reshaped the family’s daily life on both sides of the border. The two oldest sons are working to support the household, while Aracely and her sister continue their studies at Stanford University and Harvey Mudd College. The daughters plan to remain enrolled while helping their parents adjust in Tijuana. The GoFundMe describes the immediate goal of paying for rent, food, and basic needs as the couple restarts in Mexico after decades in San Diego.
The farewell video was meant to be simple and direct. The family said the paletero asked that a clip be posted so he could say goodbye to the community that welcomed him for most of his adult life. There are no reports from the family of mistreatment during the removal. Instead, their posts focused on gratitude for customers who greeted him daily and on the financial strain of rebuilding in Tijuana, where the parents have few resources and must begin again at an older age.
Aracely’s messages captured the scale of response from San Diego neighbors and the wider public. > “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, especially via TikTok and the community. God bless ❤️❤️❤️,” she wrote, as donations and messages continued to arrive. She explained that the GoFundMe was created to keep her parents stable while her brothers contribute from their jobs and the sisters remain in school.
The deported paletero’s removal underscores how long immigration cases can stretch, especially when families contest deportation and seek forms of relief that are hard to obtain after many years without status. While the family did not share the precise filings used during their case, Aracely said the parents pursued every path available before the final order. The eight-year span since May 2017 was marked by repeated court dates and anxiety, she said, culminating in the departure on September 22, 2025.
For the San Diego community that knew him, the farewell was both personal and public. People reposted photos, recalled favorite flavors, and thanked the vendor who learned children’s names and parents’ schedules as he made his rounds. The TikTok message anchored those memories in a single line of thanks: > “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 ❤️.” The family said the video was meant to honor those connections, not to argue the legal case one more time.
The parents are now in Tijuana, a short distance from the city where they spent most of their lives, yet separated by a border that shapes everything from work opportunities to family routines. Aracely said her brothers will continue working in the United States while supporting their parents. She and her sister plan to visit when possible while maintaining their studies at Stanford University and Harvey Mudd College. The family’s public posts did not mention future legal steps to return, focusing instead on immediate needs and the practical reality of starting over.
For donors and neighbors, the GoFundMe became a place to leave messages about the paletero’s kindness as well as small notes recalling the first and last popsicles they bought from him. Aracely said every gesture, no matter how small, mattered to her parents as they packed up their lives and crossed into Mexico. The family posted that the campaign was organized from National City, reflecting the tight geography of their life in the South Bay: the routes he pushed, the schools his children attended, and the churches and parks where he greeted customers.
The legal process ended quietly, without images of enforcement or public confrontation. But in San Diego, the absence is loud. A familiar bell won’t ring on afternoon streets; a known face won’t round the corner with a cart. The deported paletero leaves behind a city that knew him not as a case number, but as the vendor who showed up day after day through heat and rain. Aracely’s posts made clear that her father wanted to leave with gratitude rather than anger, and the family chose a message that reflected that sentiment rather than the details of hearings and filings.
In the coming weeks, the parents will search for stable housing in Tijuana and stretch the donations to cover basic costs. The sons will keep working while the daughters stay in school, a plan that threads a narrow path between two countries that shaped the family’s story. The GoFundMe remains the main tool for those who want to help. For San Diego residents who knew the vendor by sight if not by name, it offers a way to support the man who sold them paletas and thanked them on his way out.
The family’s public words, repeated across TikTok and the fundraising page, anchor the tone they hoped to set. > “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 ❤️,” Aracely wrote, a message echoed by her later note: > “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, especially via TikTok and the community. God bless ❤️❤️❤️.” In a case that stretched from May 2017 to September 22, 2025, those words now stand in place of years of paperwork, marking the end of a fight and the start of a different kind of journey just across the border from San Diego.
This Article in a Nutshell
A San Diego paletero and his wife were deported to Mexico on September 22, 2025, closing an eight-year legal fight that began with their May 2017 detention. Their daughter, Aracely Duarte Perez, organized a GoFundMe from National City to help them resettle in Tijuana. The paletero’s TikTok farewell went viral, prompting thousands of messages and donations. The family says they exhausted all legal options; sons will work in the U.S. while daughters remain in college and assist remotely.
