Kelly Yu, the owner of Kawaii Sushi in Peoria, Arizona, had been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) since May following a routine immigration check-in after entering the United States from China illegally decades ago.

Newsweek reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security via email for comment.

Why it Matters

Yu's detention underscores how federal immigration enforcement could affect long-term residents and small-business owners who had built deep ties in their communities, including families with U.S. citizen children—as Yu has children who were born here.

Her case has also galvanized lawmakers and advocates across partisan lines, raising questions about how removal orders issued years earlier could affect people who had lived, paid taxe

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