The Emanet family thanks their South Jersey neighbors with free food as deportation proceedings loom
The family worked on Sunday to thank a community that has rallied and raised money on their behalf, offering all comers free meals of falafel, rice, salad and baklava.
It was a line of love, made up of hundreds of people who collectively stretched halfway down the block from the front door of the reopened Jersey Kebab restaurant on Sunday.
One man drove all the way from New Brunswick, bringing dates as a gift. Others brought flowers. And hugs, handshakes, and words of care as Celal and Emine Emanet joyfully reopened their Haddon Township restaurant, closed since the Turkish couple was arrested by ICE agents last month.
The couple and their family worked on Sunday to thank a community that has rallied and raised money on their behalf, offering all comers free meals of falafel, rice, salad, and baklava. People insisted the family accept donations for the food, and green bills soon filled an aluminum serving tray.
“I was so upset when they broke up the family,” said Mark Forrester, who stood in line outside the restaurant, “taking the nice lady away in handcuffs.”
Until last month the Emanets were known mostly to their customers. But on Feb. 25 they became national news, after ICE agents appeared at the restaurant and arrested Celal Emanet, 52, and his wife, Emine Emanet, 47.
He was fitted with an ankle monitor and released, while she spent two weeks and a day in ICE detention before being freed on bond. Both now face federal deportation proceedings.
“I need to be back at the restaurant,” Emine Emanet said on Sunday, as she delivered vats of rice to the serving line. “We are a small business, but we have a big heart.”
An outraged South Jersey community initiated a GoFundMe drive that raised more than $327,000 for the family, with donations coming from across the country and around the world, including Ireland, Germany, and England.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said lead organizer Lori Leonard, who initially had hoped to bring in $15,000. “It’s a reflection of what’s going on in the world. People feel helpless and hopeless and that they can’t do anything. This gives them a chance to do something.”
Boris Rybalko drove to the restaurant from New Brunswick, his gift of dates a way to help the family mark the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.
The family’s suffering at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement “touched me very deeply,” he said. “The outpouring of community support is also deeply touching.”
The popular restaurant is defined by its corner setting and big windows, now covered in paper hearts posted by friends and neighbors.
Inside on Sunday, people wrapped their arms around Emine and shared a hearty “Welcome back!” with Celal, who worked behind the grill. Eldest son Muhammed, who manages the restaurant, made sure to personally thank everyone for their help and kindness as they departed with their food.
Rashaad Jorden, who stood outside in line, said he’s been following the family’s story in the news. He was excited to see hundreds of people come to the restaurant on a sunny afternoon, and expected more would return as paying customers.
“The Emanet family needs our love and support,” he said. “I can’t imagine what they went through. People missed them. They missed going to Jersey Kebab.”
He said he worries what will happen next.
Celal faces an Immigration Court hearing on May 27, while no date has been set for his wife. Their attorney, Joseph Best of Best Law Associates, is attempting to combine the cases.
The couple entered the country legally in 2008, established a popular local business and paid taxes, and have no criminal record. Their visa expired in 2013, and as a result they have no legal permission to live in the United States.
Their two adult children also are undocumented, while their two younger kids are American citizens by birth.
The Emanets have repeatedly applied for legal permanent residency. They have been waiting nine years for a government decision on their most recent application.
ICE issued a statement last month saying the couple were illegally in the U.S. and had been placed in deportation proceedings but has since declined to comment.
“I’m for the little guy, and I think what they did to her was outrageous,” said Sue Cohen, who came to the restaurant from her home in Cherry Hill. “I’m all for them, and hope they stop this crap about deporting them.”
Celal Emanet is a scholar of Islam and the author of 10 books, an expert on Alexander Russell Webb, the 1880s American consul to the Philippines who left his Presbyterian faith to become one of the first prominent white converts to Islam.
About 386,000 Turkish immigrants and people of Turkish ancestry live in the United States, according to Inquirer computations of U.S. Census figures. That includes about 15,000 in Philadelphia and its suburban Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties.
Celal Emanet cited two main reasons for wanting to live in the United States. First, a better life for his children. And, second, a chance to pursue his scholarship in a diverse environment.
“I’m excited,” he said, as people began lining up outside before the start of the celebration on Sunday. “I hope we’re going to make everybody happy.”
He comes from a family of restaurateurs, and started Jersey Kebab because he needed a means to support his family. The Haddon Avenue eatery served its first meal in March 2021 but had been closed since the arrests.
Jersey Kebab will resume its normal hours starting at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
On Sunday, as reporters spoke to the family at the restaurant, Muhammed Emanet agreed that the future is uncertain.
But he’s focusing on “our business, our community, our family,” he said. “Every single day is going to be a better day.”