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The owners of two Chinese restaurants in Syracuse, Lixing Chen and Dan Chen, have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Both individuals were taken into custody after attending routine check-ins with ICE. Lixing Chen, who has been ordered for removal since 1994, will soon be deported after exhausting all appeals. Dan Chen is currently held at a facility in Louisiana.
According to Syracuse.com, Lixing Chen's son, Andy Chen, drove him to his immigration appointment on September 15. Andy waited in the car for two hours, watching the glass door of the ICE building, unaware that his father was being detained.
Syracuse has a history of supporting its immigrant communities. In 2017, former Mayor Stephanie Miner declared the city a sanctuary city, although current Mayor Ben Walsh has avoided using the term, considering it divisive. Nonetheless, both mayors emphasized the importance of protecting immigrants in the city, as reported by The Daily Orange.
ICE has been actively apprehending individuals who pose a risk to public safety. Recently, ICE officers in Buffalo warned New Yorkers about scams involving Chinese nationals defrauding elderly residents, as noted by ICE's official website. However, there is no indication that Lixing or Dan Chen were involved in such activities.