Monmouth restaurant owner released by ICE gets warm welcome home
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — Ruperto Vicens fought back tears as he faced the community that fought so hard for his release after he was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on his way to work at his restaurant on Oct. 19.
But Zoe’s co-owner Emilio’s Kitchen couldn’t stop his eyes from welling up as 100 local supporters marched from Veteran’s Park on First Street, took a left onto Center Avenue and stopped in front of the restaurant he runs with his brother Emilio.
On their way, the crowd held signs protesting what they called an unjust immigration raid by ICE. A few cars slowed down and honked their horns in apparent support.
Ruperto Vicens, who was detained for a month by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, speaks outside his Atlantic Highlands restaurant, November 22, 2025.
“I want to thank you all because I never imagined all of this,” an emotional Vicens told the crowd on Saturday, November 22. “I’m really happy to be able to see my family, to be able to see all of you. When I was there and I heard about what was happening here, it really broke my heart. Thank you everyone. Thank you for everything. I’m just thinking about how I can pay back to this community.”
His brother found a solution when he took the megaphone provided to Ruperto.
More: Monmouth man released from ICE cooks recipes in his restaurants
“We want to make sure that you all go home with happy bellies. So we have food inside. So please come in, thank you everyone,” Emilio Vicens said.
It took several rallies, intense media coverage and nearly $100,000 in donations for Vicens’ legal defense, but the father of three young children and co-owner of organic Mexican restaurants in Atlantic Highlands and Belmar was released by an immigration judge.
The judge confirmed what Vicens’ lawyer had maintained all along: that he is legally in the United States with a work permit that expires in 2029.
He was released from Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark on Tuesday evening after a month he described as “very difficult.” In what Vicens believes was a case of mistaken identity, ICE agents picked him up on Oct. 19 on his way to work at the popular Zoe’s Emilio’s Kitchen in Atlantic Highlands. It took several weeks to get a hearing due to the backlog of cases in immigration court.
While in custody, Vicens said, he slept in a room with 13 other people, on the top bunk of a row of bunk beds. Although he used an immigration lawyer, Steven Lyons, based in New York, he encountered many other detainees who could not afford one.
Mike Scherfen of Atlantic Highlands holds a sign welcoming Ruperto Vicens who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for a month.
“It made me sick, just sick. I joined the rally with a few hundred other people from town,” Atlantic Highland resident Mike Scherfen said of Vicens’ detention. “His restaurant is three blocks from our house. We pass there all the time. Great guy, him and his brother.”
The American Friend’s Service Committee, a Quaker organization, helped rally support for Vicens’ release. Kerri Kennedy, the group’s deputy general secretary, lives in Atlantic Highlands. She coordinated with borough Mayor Lori Hohenleitner to help organize vigils and bring media attention to Vicens’ cause.
“I’ve worked in authoritarian countries around the world. We know it’s important to act collectively to counter whenever we see human rights violations, whenever we see a deterioration of our democracy,” Kennedy said. “We need people to come forward and say, ‘No, this is not the way we want America to act. We don’t want our neighbors disappearing at 6 a.m. We don’t want tanks on our street.’ You need people to come.”
When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel isn’t reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he’s a history professor. Contact him at dradel@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth NJ restaurant owner published by ICE receives warm welcome at home
