Collingswood, New Jersey – The shawarma, falafel and baklava at Jersey Kebab are great, but many of its customers are also there these days to participate in an aspect of the protest.
A suburb of Philadelphia, New Jersey, has rallied around the restaurant’s Turkish owners since federal officers arrested the couple last February because they said their visas had expired.
In fact, business has been so good since Jalal and Amin Imanit were arrested early in the Trump administration’s anti-immigration crackdown, that they moved to a larger space in the next town over. Their regulars didn’t seem to mind.
Celal Emanet, 52, first came to the United States in 2000 to learn English while pursuing a doctorate in Islamic history at a Turkish university. He returned in 2008 to work as an imam at a mosque in southern New Jersey, bringing Amina and their first two children with him as well. Two more will be born in the United States
It wasn’t long until Jalal had an additional job: delivering bread to restaurant patrons. They applied for permanent residency and thought they were on their way to getting a green card.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began and delivery trucks stopped working, Celal and Emin, who had been working in restaurants in Türkiye, opened Jersey Kebab in Haddon. Business was strong from the start.
On February 25, US marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested the couple at the restaurant. Jalal was sent home with an ankle monitor, but Amina, now 47, was taken to a detention center more than an hour’s drive away and held there for 15 days.
With the main chef detained and the family in crisis, the store was temporarily closed.
Although the area is largely Democratic, the Emanites’ arrests signaled to many local residents that immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term would not stop pursuing people with criminal backgrounds who are in the United States illegally.
“They were not dangerous people — and not the type of people we were told on TV were looking to keep out of our country,” Haddon Mayor Randy Teague said.
Supporters organized a vigil and raised $300,000, which kept the family and businesses afloat while the store was closed — and paid the legal bills. Members of Congress helped, and hundreds of customers wrote letters of support.
As news of the family’s plight spread, customers new and old began packing the restaurant. The family moved it late last year to a larger space on busy Haddon Street in Collingswood.
They added a breakfast menu and for the first time needed to hire servers alongside their son, Muhammad.
The location has changed, but the restaurant still has a sign in the window offering free meals to people in need. Muhammad said this was respect for an Islamic value, which is to care “for anyone who has less than us.”
Judy Cubitt and Linda Ray, two friends from the nearby communities of Medford and Columbus, respectively, said they came to Haddon Township last year for an anti-Trump “No Kings” rally and had lunch after the protest at a kebab shop.
“We thought we should go just to show our solidarity with the whole issue,” Cobbett said.
Last month, with Minneapolis’ immigration crackdown dominating headlines, they were at the new location for lunch.
The Emanets desperately want to stay in the United States, where they have built a life and raised their family.
Jalal will have a deportation hearing in March, and Amina and Mohamed will eventually have hearings.
Jalal said that returning to Türkiye would be bad for his young children. They do not speak Turkish, and one of them is autistic and needs the help available in the United States
He would also be concerned about his safety due to his academic essays. “I am against Turkish government“If they deport me, I will have very big problems,” he said.
The great support has shown the family that they are not alone.
“We are fighting for our right to stay in the country, while still having amazing support from the community behind us. So we are all in this together,” said Mohamed Imanit.