Jersey Kebab ICE raid: Leaders show support for small business owners targeted by ICE raid
ICE raids NJ restaurant: Lawmakers, community support family
South Jersey lawmakers stood in solidarity with the Emanet family after ICE officers conducted a raid at their restaurant, Jersey Kebab, arresting the owners.
HADDON TWP, N.J. - State and local leaders gathered outside the Jersey Kebab restaurant in Haddon Township to show support for a local family that was the target of a recent ICE raid.
Spouses Celal and Emine Emanet, owners of the restaurant, had been awaiting a decision from the federal government on their green card status for nearly a decade.
Haddon Township Mayor Randall Teague and other leaders rallied on Thursday to support the beloved small business owners and demand Emine's release.
The backstory:
NJ restaurant owners taken in by ICE
A community is showing a South Jersey family support after their beloved restaurant in Haddon Township, Jersey Kebab, got an unexpected visit from ICE officers.
Celal and Emine Emanet, owners of Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township, were arrested Wednesday during an ICE raid.
The husband and wife were told they were being detained to update their case file, which the family says has been in limbo since 2016.
The couple purportedly applied for a green card nearly 10 years ago and have been awaiting a final decision ever since.
Celal was later released with an ankle monitor, and Emine was sent to a detention center in Elizabeth.
"What happened? I pay taxes, they can check out my file. I am a very open person, and we have no criminal record," Celal told FOX 29 News.
A GoFundMe campaign for the Emanet family has raised over $240k as of this writing.
What they're saying:
Local, state leaders react to Jersey Kebab ICE raid
State and local leaders gathered outside Jersey Kebab restaurant in Haddon Township to show support for a local family that was the target of a recent ICE raid.
Haddon Mayor Randall Teauge was among other state reps who rallied outside Jersey Kebab on Thursday to show their support for the family and business owners.
"We couldn't ask for better people to be in our community, better people to have a business in our community, and it truly is a tragedy, travesty," Mayor Teague said.
"Stand up with this family and with the others who are targeted unfairly and needlessly and having this incredibly damaging effect on all of our lives," said Haddonfield Mayor Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich.
The family opened Jersey Kebab in 2021 and have always offered food at no cost to those who could not afford it.
"What happened to Celal and Emine is outrageous and in Camden County we take it as a personal attack on all of us," Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli said.
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ICE raids family-owned restaurant in South Jersey, arrests owners
A community is showing a South Jersey family support after their beloved restaurant in Haddon Township, Jersey Kebab, got an unexpected visit from ICE officers.
"This cannot continue to happen that we need to come together as citizens and find the proper pathway to make sure that everyone who wants to be a citizen of this wonderful country has an opportunity," said Commissioner Virginia Betteridge, Camden County.
The couple's oldest son, Muhammed, helps his parents run the restaurant. He spoke on Thursday and revealed that the family was able to briefly speak to Emine.
"She was just devastated, crying," Muhammed said. "There's no reason a woman who has never committed a crime should have to stay behind bars for three weeks."
The Emanet family is also concerned that Emine's detainment coincides with the start of Ramadan fasting.
"This family has been part of our community for decades, they've raised their children here, they've built a business here, and they've given back to their neighbors every day since they've been in America," Cappelli said.