By Sunayana Prabhu
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Ruperto Vicens, the chef and co-owner of a popular Mexican restaurant in the borough, was released Tuesday, Nov. 18, after nearly a month in federal immigration detention.
Vicens’ attorney, Steven Lyons, secured his release on a $7,000 bond set by an immigration judge, following strong community support led by Mayor Lori Hohenleitner. A welcome rally for Vicens is planned for Saturday, Nov. 22, in the borough.
“If he had done something in the past, he would be remorseful or shameful, but he has done nothing wrong,” Vicens’ older brother, Emilio, said during a phone call after Ruperto was released at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Attempts to post the bond online were unsuccessful, so Hohenleitner and Kerri Kennedy, the international associate general secretary for American Friends Service Committee, went to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bond acceptance facility in Newark to post the bond in person.
Although it was posted Monday morning, authorities did not release Ruperto until Tuesday evening. “They waited ’til the last minute,” Emilio said.
On the advice of his lawyer, Ruperto did not speak with The Two River Times, but his brother described conditions in the detention center as “stinky,” and said, one day, Ruperto “asked for food but no food was given.”
He was “chained on hands and feet,” Emilio said. Ruperto “saw a lot of fear,” but “he has a lot of faith and he is not living in fear… unfortunately, many people don’t have the same support as my brother.” Others, he said, may be “moved to another state and eventually have no way back.”
Emilio expressed deep gratitude to the community and officials who helped the family.
On Nov. 13, an immigration judge found that “Roberto was not a danger, nor a flight risk,” Lyons said, adding that ICE had 24 hours to appeal for an automatic stay, but it did not.
Ruperto, a Middletown resident who co-owns Zoe’s Emilio’s Kitchen on Center Avenue with Emilio, was arrested by ICE agents Oct. 19 while on his way to work. Despite holding valid employment authorization through 2029, he was detained and taken to the Delaney Hall facility in Newark.
According to Lyons, the government has changed its policy and decided that individuals in the U.S., even those being held without an inspection of relevant documents, are not eligible for release on bond. Lyons explained that “because of that change in government policy, the immigration judges are not granting bond.”
“To seek bond successfully, it’s necessary to file a petition for habeas corpus in U.S. District Court, which is what we did on behalf of Ruperto,” he said. That is also why the process to bring Vicens home was delayed, he said.
Lyons said U.S. District Judge Katherine Hayden “issued an order directing that the immigration court schedule a bond hearing,” which led to Vicens’ release after bond was set at $7,000.
“We are seeing a pattern in practice, with ICE detaining individuals that they can apprehend present in the U.S. without an inspection,” Lyons said, discussing broader systemic issues of ICE detaining individuals who have valid documents to live and work in the United States. He said Ruperto’s “is not an isolated case.”
The ICE administrative offices are inundated with “thousands of emails on the same problems,” Emilio said, regarding the number of people requesting to pay for a bond release or questioning ICE procedures.
After his detention, Ruperto and his family received wide support from the Atlantic Highlands community. Supporters organized rallies and raised over $95,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to support the family during his absence. Nearly 1,300 members of the community contributed to the campaign.
A welcome rally is planned for Saturday, Nov. 22, at Veterans Park across from Atlantic Highlands Borough Hall to celebrate Ruperto’s release, with family, friends and residents joining the event.
Through his brother, Ruperto, a father of three, expressed gratitude for the community’s support. He is expected to remain free on bond while awaiting further hearings as part of the non-detained immigration court calendar.
The article originally appeared in the November 20 – 26, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
