Ten months ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Peoria restaurant owner Kelly Yu in her driveway. Since then, Yu has been sent to several detention centers across the country, released with an ankle monitor and then arrested again. Since May, ICE has held her at its notorious Eloy Detention Center.
Yu has been fighting to stay in the country much longer than that. After fleeing China as a pregnant 18-year-old — her daughter, Zita, is now 21 and was born a U.S. citizen — Yu has struggled for decades to remain in America despite lacking legal status. Her asylum claim was denied in 2004 and she was given a removal order in 2005. Her final appeal was dismissed in 2016.
In the meantime, the 40-year-old Yu built the West Valley eatery Kawaii Sushi and Asian Cuisine into a popular and thriving business. Yu employs 30 people at her two Kawaii locations and is also the co-owner of Poke Maki, a counterservice poke “culinary fusion concept” in Glendale, according to Kawaii’s website. A third Kawaii location in the West Valley is also in the process of opening…