The Turkish-origin Jersey Kebab restaurant owner has been facing possible deportation on visa overstay charges since 2014.
26-year-old Mehmet Imanit could face deportation to Türkiye and the US government could ask him to apply for a green card from his country – a new proposal that has caused an uproar among visa holders.
Imanit runs Jersey Kebab, a kebab shop in Collingswood that specializes in shawarma, falafel wraps and baklava. The kebab shop was in the news when the Trump administration arrested Imanit’s parents last year, saying their visas had expired. The family had already applied for a green card, but applications were pending.
The Imanit family in the United States
Mehmet’s father, 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 children were later born in the United States.Muhammad was not born in the United States.Their visas were scheduled to expire in 2014. They applied for a green card in 2013. That application went forward. During the pandemic, the Emanette family opened Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township.After the Imanit couple were arrested, Jalal was sent home with an ankle monitor, but Amina was taken to a detention center and held there for 15 days.
The store had to be closed temporarily because Amina was the head cook.Local residents rallied behind Emanets and raised $300,000 to keep the business open. The kebab shop’s location has changed and Mohammed is now the CEO of the company. He’s on the radar. His deportation hearing will be held on July 2, and he has a week to prove to the government that he needs to remain in the United States.
“They ask me why we didn’t leave in 2014, I was 15 years old.”
Muhammad said that the administration accuses them of overstaying their visa after 2014.
“I try to tell them that we were already in another court case. So why would we deport? I was 15 at the time. I had no control over my family being deported,” Muhammad said, adding that if he was now deported to Turkey on the basis that his visa expired 10 years ago, he would not be able to return to the United States for 10 years.“I’m just trying to be as optimistic as I can about this, man, because as long as we’re living and breathing, you know there’s hope and I’m very hopeful that you know that the truth will prevail one way or another,” Imanet said.
“No matter if you do everything right in the right way, everything can still be thrown away so easily.”Imanet said the South Jersey community supported his family.He added: “They were very kind to us and with their hearts and told us that we don’t care what anyone else might say about you or your immigration status. We see you as real human beings and that’s the kind of relationships we’ve built with people.”While Imanit’s case is scheduled to be decided on July 2, his father’s case is scheduled to be heard in December and his mother’s case in April next year.
Muhammad’s father said that moving to Türkiye would create big problems
Last year, Muhammad’s father said that returning to Türkiye would be bad for his young children because they do not speak Turkish, and one of them is autistic and needs the help available in the United States. He also said that his academic articles are critical of the government in Türkiye. He said: “I am opposed to the Turkish government.” “If they deport me, I will face very big problems.”