In a powerful show of local support, a Philadelphia-area community in the United States has flocked to a kebab restaurant for a side of protest after its Turkish owners were targeted in an immigration crackdown, proving that their patrons value their presence as much as their food.
The local community has rallied around the restaurant's Turkish owners, Celal and Emine Emanet, since federal officers detained them last February because they say their visas had expired.
Celal Emanet, 52, first came to the U.S. in 2000 to learn English while he pursued his doctorate in Islamic history at a Turkish university.
He returned in 2008 to serve as an imam at a southern New Jersey mosque, bringing Emine Emanet and their first two children, too. Two more would be born in the U.S.
Before long, Celal Emanet had an additional business of delivering bread to diners.
They applied for permanent residency and believed they were on their way to receiving green cards.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began and the delivery trucks were idled, Celal and Emine Emanet opened Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township.
On Feb. 25, U.S. marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested the couple at the restaurant.
Celal Emanet was sent home with an ankle monitor, but Emine Emanet, now 47, was moved to a detention facility more than an hour's drive away and held there for 15 days.
With its main cook in detention and the family in crisis, the shop closed temporarily.
Supporters organized a vigil and raised $300,000 that kept the family and business afloat while the shop was closed — and paid legal bills.
Members of Congress helped, and hundreds of customers wrote letters of support.
“They were not dangerous people — not the type of people we were told on TV they were looking to remove from our country,” Haddon Township Mayor Randy Teague said.
As news of the family’s ordeal spread, customers new and old began packing the restaurant.
Late last year, the family moved the business to a larger space down bustling Haddon Avenue in Collingswood.
The location changed, but the restaurant still features a sign in the window offering free meals to people in need.
That’s honoring a Muslim value, to care for “anybody who has less than us,” said the couple’s son, Muhammed Emanet.
