Immigration judge says Jersey Kebab owner, arrested by ICE, can be released on bond

ELIZABETH, N.J. — An immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that the Turkish wife and mother arrested by ICE at her family’s Jersey Kebab restaurant can be released from custody on $7,500 bond.

Emine Emanet, 47, has been jailed since she and her husband were arrested Feb. 25, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrived at their Haddon Township eatery, open since 2020. Her husband, Celal Emanet, 51, was fitted with an electronic ankle monitor and released.

The bond hearing took place in a small courtroom at the detention center in Elizabeth, where Emine Emanet is being held. Judge Adrian Armstrong set bond at $7,500, which her family can post to free her while deportation proceedings go forward.

The family was working to post that money late Tuesday afternoon and she was expected to be released sometime Wednesday.

The government argued that she should be kept in jail because she posed a flight risk. The family attorney, Joseph Best, argued she was no flight risk at all and, in fact, had strong reasons to stay, with her extended family around her in Cherry Hill and her ownership in the family restaurant.

ICE officials in New Jersey said they would have no immediate comment on the judge’s decision.

A large contingent of family members and friends waited into the afternoon for the hearing to start. In the end it lasted only 15 minutes.

“Thank God!” Celal Emanet told The Inquirer as he left the court after the ruling. “My heart is full.”

He said he was grateful to all the friends and supporters who have helped the family, contributing not just money but letters, good wishes, and caring sentiments.

”We need blessings,” he said. “Blessings are more important than money.”

During the hearing, Emine Emanet sat alone at one table before the judge, the government lawyer at another to her left, her attorney speaking by video feed to her right. She said nothing during the proceedings. When the judge ruled, she stood and flashed a smile to the people who filled the courtroom.

Friends and supporters of the family have raised more than $324,000 to help the couple and their children, saying they are upset over the arrest of good and caring neighbors. Nearly 8,000 people have donated.

The couple’s eldest son, Muhammed Emanet, awaited the hearing with hope and expectation, chatting in a courtroom hallway with friends who had traveled from Philadelphia and South Jersey in support.

”I’m very relieved,” he said, walking out of the detention center. “It kind of felt like this two weeks were a nightmare that turned into a dream. Hopefully it’s going to have a fairy tale ending at the end of it.”

Muhammed Emanet said the family has worked hard to try to make its way in the United States, working delivering bread and then running a restaurant that built a strong local following.

Emine Emanet was the heart of that restaurant, her son said. ”Any circumstances that we are faced with throughout life, we always try to make the best of it,” he said. “And because of that, you know, God has granted us back these blessings, sending us support through our people, our community.”

It is not clear why Emine Emanet was jailed and her husband released, given their similar circumstances. The couple came legally to the United States in 2008 but fell out of status when their visas expired.

Celal Emanet said Tuesday afternoon he has been terribly worried about his wife. He said he did not understand why ICE officials kept her and not him.

He entered the country on an R-1 visa that can be granted to ministers or religious leaders, and she was what is known as the derivative, able to apply for a visa based on the principal’s application.

”Every night I had very deep feelings, so nervous, sometimes a little bit afraid,” he said of his wife’s confinement and his concern for their four children. “If something happened to me or my wife, who’s going to take care of the kids?”

ICE says that it exercises its discretion in making custody decisions, and that those decisions are made on a case-by-case basis after considering the totality of circumstances — primarily the potential risk of flight, threat to national security, and risk to public safety.

News media were at first denied admission to the federal immigration court by CoreCivic, which manages the detention center where Emine Emanet is being held by ICE. Court officials themselves argued, though, that the courts are open to the public. After consulting with ICE, CoreCivic allowed reporters into the hearing, saying that as public visitors they could not bring pens or paper inside.

The courtroom seats 23 people, and nearly every seat was taken.

When asked about the couple’s arrest, ICE released a statement last week saying its enforcement decisions “focus on the greatest threats to homeland security.”

The Executive Office for Immigration Review, which administers federal immigration laws, says that in deciding whether bond should be allowed, judges are to consider whether the immigrant’s release would pose a danger to people or property, if the person is likely to flee, and whether the person constitutes a risk to national security.

The Emanets’ attorney, Best of Best Law Associates LLC, earlier called Emine Emanet’s detention “both unnecessary and an expensive use of limited enforcement resources.”

“She has no criminal history, is not a flight risk, and is not a risk to public safety or nationality security,” he said.

The afternoon bond hearing was separate from the government’s effort to deport the couple to their native Turkey.

Bond hearings are generally shorter and less formal than deportation proceedings. Witnesses may be placed under oath and give testimony at the judge’s discretion. Usually, judges render their decision verbally.

A grant of bond does not necessarily result in immediate release.

The bond verification process, including review of payment, typically takes a couple of hours, according to ICE. Migrants are usually freed by the end of the day after the bond is approved, though processing times can vary.

The Emanets stayed in the United States after their visas expired, meaning they have no legal status to be in the country. They say they have unsuccessfully pursued legal permanent residency, also known as a green card, and for the last nine years have awaited a government decision on their most recent application.