A Bronx man believed to have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement longer than any New Yorker was freed Tuesday after a judge ordered bond.
 
Ousman Darboe arrived from Gambia at age 6. He was locked up by ICE more than three years ago -- an extraordinary length of time even more notable because in February, Gov. Andrew Cuomo pardoned him for the alleged crime that landed him in detention: robbing gold chains, which he said he didn't do.

Sophia Gurulé, his attorney from the Bronx Defenders, was with him Tuesday afternoon after his release on $10,000 bond from the Bergen County Jail in New Jersey. "All we want as advocates is for the people we represent, the people from our community, to be with their families," she said. "Knowing he's at home with his wife and his daughter and his parents and his siblings and that he's going to eat a meal cooked by his mom tonight is all I ever wanted for him and his family." 

Darboe has a 2 1/2-year-old daughter whom he has only held twice. 

"We talk about family separation like it's only happening at the border, but it's happening all across the United States right now, and it's happening because of ICE, and it does not need to happen," Gurulé said.

ICE opposed Darboe's release, saying he was a flight risk. He was outfitted with an ankle monitor, and will continue his legal fight to stay in the United States. 

For more on Darboe's story, visit Gothamist.