Immigration activists rallied Monday in White Plains in support of a recently deported father of three.

The protest took place in front of the Westchester County building.

Cristobal Paute illegally emigrated to the U.S. with his parents 18 years ago. Paute is an immigrant from Ecuador who entered the country illegally.

Immigration advocates are questioning Paute’s deportation, saying his case was still pending with the Immigration Board of Appeals.

His family says although he doesn't have a criminal record, they believe his arrest came from his contact with U.S. Customs and Border Protection about a decade ago.

The Sleepy Hollow man was detained about six months ago, and after being held in a detention center in New York, he was taken thousands of miles away from his family to Louisiana, where he was until this past week when he was deported back to Ecuador.

Two of Paute’s children boarded a plane in New York this morning to travel to Ecuador to visit their father.