PROVIDENCE — The federal government has granted Edgar Velásquez, a Mexican illegal immigrant, a two-week extension of his five-day humanitarian visa, to pursue his workers’ compensation claim against William J. Gorman Jr., owner of Billy G’s Tree Care in Warwick.

Immigration lawyer Roberto Gonzalez said Saturday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities have extended Velásquez’s humanitarian parole, allowing him to remain in Rhode Island while the case moves forward. Velásquez had been scheduled to return to Mexico yesterday.

“This is really an exception,” Gonzales, who is working pro bono in Velásquez’s behalf, said on Saturday.

He attributed the government’s granting of a humanitarian visa and its subsequent extension, to international pressure brought by the Mexican-American Association of Rhode Island and other local immigrant advocacy groups; the Mexican consulate in Boston; and Sen. Jack Reed’s office.

Without that pressure, Gonzalez said, “this never would have happened.”

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Velásquez, 22, was working for Gorman on March 31, 2006, when a chainsaw he was using kicked back off a fence, slashed his forehead to the bone and sliced through his left eyelid and his nose.

State law entitles undocumented workers to pursue workers’ compensation for their injuries, and last year, Velásquez tried to pursue his claim for medical bills, permanent disfigurement and weekly benefits.

But Velásquez was expelled from the country before that happened. Federal immigration agents arrested Velásquez on Aug. 2, 2006, outside the courthouse where he was about to attend a hearing against Gorman.

Velásquez and his lawyers, Stephen J. Dennis and Maureen Gemma, maintain that Gorman notified immigration authorities so that he could avoid liability in this case. Velásquez has said that Gorman called out, “Edgar … I have no use for you now,” and “Edgar, adiós,” as immigration agents arrested Velásquez.

Less than one month later, he was sent back to Mexico.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sanctioned Velásquez’s return to Rhode Island for five days, so that he could attend a pretrial hearing against Gorman.

At the hearing, Velásquez said his left eyelid does not close completely, and he still suffers dizziness, headaches, blurred vision and recurrent infections along his facial scar. Workers’ Compensation Judge Bruce Q. Morin set the case down for full trial.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez, the immigration lawyer, successfully filed a petition with the ICE office in Providence that will allow Velásquez to remain in Rhode Island until Oct. 14.

Trial opened on Friday in a separate suit, brought by the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training against Gorman, for not having workers’ compensation insurance during the time Velásquez worked for him. Gorman could face fines of up to $1,000 per day.

Judge Morin continued that trial to Nov. 9.

kziner@projo.com