By Sunayana Prabhu
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – More than a hundred Two River area residents, along with elected officials across party lines, rallied Monday, Oct. 27, to demand the release of Ruperto Vicens from ICE custody.
Vicens, head chef and co-owner of Zoe’s Emilio’s Kitchen in Atlantic Highlands, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as he was on his way to work Sunday, Oct. 19, despite having legal immigration status, according to his lawyer, Steven Lyons. He has been held at Delaney Hall, the immigration facility in Newark, for more than a week, which has triggered a bipartisan campaign, led by borough officials and residents, against what they believe is unlawful detention. His detention hearing is scheduled for Nov. 17.
“I’ve seen, personally, his employment authorization paperwork. It’s valid. So, we’re just doing everything we can,” said Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, during the rally held across from the Atlantic Highlands Police Department. A GoFundMe campaign launched by Hohenleitner to cover legal expenses and support the family’s restaurant business has raised over $84,000 from nearly 1,100 community members as of press time.
Hohenleitner said that neither the Atlantic Highlands Police Department nor the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office was informed of the ICE operation. “I honestly don’t think there are protocols anymore. I think that we would expect to be informed, but we were not.”
Vicens was detained Oct. 19 by ICE agents on his way from his residence in Belford to the Mexican restaurant he co-owns with his older brother Emilio Vicens, who believes Ruperto was in “the wrong place at the wrong time.” The ICE agents were “looking for someone in and around the area,” not Ruperto, Emilio said during the rally. Instead, they “just pulled him over and they got him,” despite the fact that Ruperto possesses a valid Employment Authorization Document (EAD) and driver’s license, Emilio said.
The brothers are Mexican immigrants who have lived in the country for decades. Emilio immigrated here nearly 28 years ago, and Ruperto has been a Belford resident for the past 18 years. He lives there with his wife and three children.
The brothers opened Zoe’s Emilio’s Kitchen in Atlantic Highlands nearly four years ago; they opened a second location in Belmar a few months later. Both restaurants are open seven days a week, even though “it’s very hard” to keep them staffed, Emilio said. Ruperto’s wife, Christina, has been helping with the business in his absence.
“We don’t have any more new specials,” Emilio said. “We stretch ourselves doing extra work, extra hours, and we keep the place open.” Like many restaurants, Zoe’s Emilio’s has been facing staffing issues and, as Emilio explained, Ruperto is in charge of training new employees in the kitchen. He added that staffing difficulties compounded by Ruperto’s detention could mean they may have to close the restaurant.
Detention Transcends Politics
While Ruperto has been held at Delaney Hall for over a week, an outpouring of support has emerged from within the community and from public officials.
Hohenleitner, a Democrat, was informed about the incident by former borough council member Steven Boracchia, a Republican, who has known the Vicens family for more than 10 years. The officials, who “don’t always see eye to eye,” Hohenleitner said, teamed up to raise their voices and funds to fight what they believe is unlawful detention.
Boracchia thanked public officials across party lines who stepped in to support Vicens’ release, including Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6) and Middletown Mayor Tony Perry, a Republican.
“The times are difficult and we’re a very divided nation, but some things transcend politics,” Boracchia said. “This is humanity-based, and we need to come together as we have here as human beings, and treat each other with the same respect and dignity that we would want for ourselves.”
Next Steps in Court
“We have filed a petition for habeas corpus seeking his release arising from unlawful detention,” Lyons told The Two River Times, confirming Vicens’ legal immigration status.
Lyons said U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Hayden intervened, preventing Vicens’ potential transfer to a distant detention facility. “The judge has stopped his transfer, which is important because many individuals apprehended are subsequently transferred to other jurisdictions far away, such as Louisiana,… Texas, New Mexico,” Lyons said, where he would be “far away from legal counsel, family and friends.”
Vicens’ case underscores a broader legal battle against ICE’s new immigration enforcement strategy. While New Jersey offers certain protections to immigrants, immigration policies overall are undergoing significant shifts amid evolving state and federal enforcement priorities.
“What we’re seeing is immigration is aggressively apprehending individuals, this time based upon a change in policy as of July 8,” Lyons said. ICE issued an internal memorandum July 8, changing its policy on apprehending and detaining individuals in the United States without inspecting their legal status. The memorandum expanded the agency’s authority to detain immigrants without bond hearings, directing officers to hold most people who entered the U.S. without inspection for the duration of their cases.
“ICE is currently taking the position that such individuals are subject to mandatory detention,” said Lyons. However, there are multiple class-action lawsuits nationwide challeng- ing policies related to mandatory or near-indefinite detention and lack of transparency.
According to Lyons, lawsuits in California, Massachusetts and Colorado are challenging the new ICE detention policy in federal courts. Each suit argues the policy unlawfully denies due process by allowing prolonged detention without individualized bond hearings. But the process takes time to bring any change, Lyons said. “The government, we anticipate, they will appeal to the appellate level of the federal court system, so the process is ongoing and might end up with the Supreme Court.”
A hearing is scheduled in Vicens’ case Nov. 17. Lyon remains hopeful the legal process will support his release.
The article originally appeared in the October 30 – November 5, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
