HADDON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — A Haddon Township restaurant owner detained by ICE agents more than two weeks ago finally rejoined her family Wednesday evening.
A judge told Emine Emanet at a hearing Tuesday that she could be released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in Elizabeth, New Jersey on a $7,500 bond.
Around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, the Envision Freedom Fund posted the bond, allowing Emine to rejoin her husband Celal three hours later, along with their four kids and two grandchildren.
“I am very happy. After 16 days, it was very tough times,” Celal Emanet told our partners at NBC10. “It was very difficult times for everybody, especially for me because I am her husband.”
The couple, who own Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township, was arrested by ICE agents on Feb. 25, just days before the beginning of Ramadan.
“In Ramadan, people come together. All family, all the time. Especially when they break fasting, people have big dinners,” said Celal. “All family come together every night. But this Ramadan is a difficult time for us.”
As eldest son Muhammad said, Emine did not sit around feeling sorry for herself while in ICE custody.
“Every difficult situation that wrongs us is by God’s plan, and she tried to make the most of her time while in there — looking around the facility and seeing who she can help,” said Muhammad.
In this difficult time, the Emanets, who are known for offering free meals to those in need at Jersey Kebab, have leaned on the community. More than $327,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe. Celal believes those who donated took note of the family’s kindness.
“People observe this kind of generosity, that’s why we got some good reactions from the people. I cry when I see this kind of love because, most of them, I don’t know them,” he said.
Time will tell how their citizenship case, which has been open since 2016, will go. For now, though, Muhammad said his mother wants to “spend some quality time with her children and grandchildren first, and then afterwards she wants to return to Jersey Kebab immediately.”