With rallies, letters, and $300K and counting, the community mobilizes for the Haddon Township restaurant owners arrested by ICE

Alyse Robayo has never met Emine Emanet, but on Sunday afternoon, she sat at a folding table in a Haddon Township storefront writing a heartfelt letter on her behalf, addressing federal authorities who hope to deport Emanet and her husband, Celal.

“This is a great injustice,” said Robayo, of Voorhees. “They’re just good people, and they shouldn’t have been targeted.”

Robayo was one of dozens of people who gathered a block from the Emanets’ restaurant, Jersey Kebab, to write missives to authorities that were notarized on site by volunteers.

On Tuesday, the Emanets were arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at their Haddon Township restaurant. When their son Muhammed arrived at Jersey Kebab, he saw a federal marshal stationed outside the restaurant holding what he described as a machine gun, “looking like we’re going to war.” The family had never been in trouble with the law.

The Emanets entered the country legally in 2008 but lost status when their visas expired. They say they have never stopped seeking legal, permanent residency, but have been denied three times. Their most recent application has been pending for nine years.

Emine Emanet is still being held in an Elizabeth, N.J., detention center; Celal Emanet was released with an ankle monitor.

ICE officials, in a statement issued Friday, noted that the agency is authorized “to investigate and enforce immigration laws, particularly in cases where immigration violations intersect with national security, public safety and transnational crime. The Emanets were served a notice to appear before an immigration judge and place[d] in removal proceedings.”

President Donald Trump promised a crackdown on immigrants when he was elected; other raids have happened locally since January. But the Emanets’ arrest has galvanized the community — and people all over the United States and beyond — in a major way.

As of late Sunday, $310,000 had been crowdfunded to aid the family’s legal defense and cover lost income; Jersey Kebab is closed while the couple fight deportation.

“These are our beloved small-business owners that make our community what it is,” said Becky Reiser, a cofounder of Haddon Township Equity Initiative, the civic group that sponsored the letter-writing session.

The Emanets and their restaurant are a fixture in the area.

“They let folks who can’t afford it enjoy their food free of charge, because that’s who they are,” said Isis Williams, another Haddon Township Equity Initiative cofounder who helped organize the event. “We’re standing in the gap for them. This is our way of doing something.”

Gretchen Siebert, of the group Cooper River Indivisible, knows the Emanets personally; she taught one of the Emanet children at a Cherry Hill public school and came to respect the family deeply.

“They are emblematic of Turkish culture and Turkish hospitality,” said Siebert. (At a rally held outside Jersey Kebab on Saturday attended by hundreds, the family offered free food to everyone who attended, despite the fact that they couldn’t eat themselves because they are fasting for Ramadan.)

As Siebert wrote on a torn piece of notebook paper, she said she was acting not just for the Emanets, but for other immigrants in similar situations. But the Emanets are especially remarkable, she said.

Though her family and friends worry deeply for Emine Emanet, Muhammed Emanet told Siebert and others that his mother has found purpose behind bars: Her roommate is a Ukrainian woman who was struggling in their shared cell. Emine Emanet bathed her; another inmate styled the woman’s hair.

“She feels she’s been put there to take care of this woman,” Siebert said of Emine Emanet.

Kristen Jandoli’s family orders takeout from Jersey Kebab. The food is tasty — the baklava is her favorite, Jandoli said — and the family are always encouraging customers to try something, no charge.

Though Haddon Township leans Democratic, not everyone feels the same way politically, Jandoli said. But she believes the Emanets’ fight is a flashpoint.

“It has opened people’s eyes, putting a human face on the harmful policies of the Trump administration,” said Jandoli.

Gabe Robayo is on spring break from Temple University, where he’s a junior. The 20-year-old joined his mother at the letter-writing event because, he said, it felt like both something that could help people who deserve it, but also a larger moment.

“This isn’t about countering criminals or ending the border crisis, this is fearmongering,” Gabe Robayo said. “Now, more than ever, it’s important for good people to resist this.”

Staff writer Jeff Gammage contributed to this article.