Wednesday, July 02, 2025

an American injustice.

 Boston Globe

CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK

ICE comes to local restaurants. It was inevitable.

Stories like that of Suya Joint’s Paul Dama expose an American injustice.

Suya Joint chef-owner Cecelia Lizotte with daughter Ericka and brother Paul Dama, who was detained by ICE on Father's Day.Cecelia Lizotte

At Suya Joint, the acclaimed West African restaurant in Roxbury and Providence, the jollof rice is always delicious — each red grain infused with the flavor of pepper sauce and deep cultural pride. But today the dish serves a second purpose: “20% of all Jollof Rice sales will go directly toward Paul’s legal expenses,” reads a note from the restaurant.

Paul is Paul Dama, a manager at Suya Joint and the brother of chef-owner Cecelia Lizotte, as well as a caregiver at a home for men with disabilities. On Father’s Day, after leaving his Brockton apartment to go to church, Dama was pulled over and detained by ICE.

“Four or five different vans came and barricaded him. They asked him to come out with his license and registration, put him in handcuffs, and told him to turn around. They just picked him up,” Lizotte says.



According to the National Restaurant Association, 22 percent of restaurant and food service employees were born outside of the United States. It was inevitable that Trump’s ICE crackdown would affect the restaurant industry. Some of this activity has been visible: In May, for instance, ICE agents raided San Diego restaurant Buona Forchetta, setting off flash-bang grenades and taking multiple workers into custody. Bystanders posted video of a chaotic and terrifying scene.

But much of it happens quietly and unrecorded, in a climate of fear that breeds yet more fear, for workers and business owners alike.

In late May, ICE conducted raids on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket and arrested 40 people. What would the repercussions be for the islands, where dining is such an important part of the seasonal economy? Every restaurant I contacted declined to comment. Understandably so. Speaking out could put their employees and their businesses in harm’s way.



“I never ever ever say this, but I think I’m a little worried to comment publicly,” replied one industry veteran. “I am too opinionated to hold my tongue, and too close to a number of people who might be affected by my fire and brimstone. Clearly this administration is in the comments and the socials and looking for a reason to target anyone or any place.

An ICE raid on Nantucket in May.

“It is grim here right now. I can’t get over the level of fear and anxiety. Previously, there was a sentiment that ICE was looking for the bad guys, and as long as you kept your nose clean and paid your taxes you’d be OK. Now they are just looking for the Spanish-speakers who are willing to humble themselves and work hard at any task to make a better life for their families.”

At the same time, ICE was also at work in and around Boston. “In one week, I’ve lost three chefs,” reported one restaurateur, who operates multiple area venues. A fourth employee was also detained. He asked to remain anonymous, concerned about potential retaliation. “The fear among the chefs is just unreal. Some aren’t showing up for work now. They won’t get on the T. Two of the guys got picked up on the T. It’s all fear. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.



One of the chefs was a 16-year employee with a 13-year-old child who was born here; she was serving as his translator. He was released on Friday after a month’s detention and is now figuring out next steps for his case. Another was deported immediately, after volunteering to return to Colombia. A third was about to move to a different country, where his wife has citizenship — but at the last minute, he discovered his passport had expired and had to postpone his departure. He was picked up while taking his child to school.

Two of the employees have now been transferred to Louisiana, where they are awaiting hearings “in not a very nice facility, and they get out one hour a day,” says the restaurateur. “There’s some sort of flu going around there, so they haven’t been out of their cells in five days. It sounds even worse than what I’m telling you.”

“Every single day we hope and pray,” says Suya Joint owner Cecelia Lizotte, whose brother is in ICE detention.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

As for Dama, according to an ICE database, he is currently detained at the Strafford County Department of Corrections facility in Dover, N.H. He came to this country from Nigeria in 2019, fleeing after he was kidnapped by the terrorist group Boko Haram. His family paid a ransom to secure his release. “Going back to Nigeria is not safe. This feels like the kidnapping all over again. He was picked up right in front of his house,” Lizotte says. The family has launched a fund-raiser, raising more than $33,000 to help with the legal fees as of Tuesday. “This feels like another ransom, paying the bond and so much money for attorney fees.”

But this is America, now. Hours before casting his tie-breaking vote, Vice President JD Vance took to social media to champion a domestic policy bill that increases spending for immigration enforcement while cutting SNAP, Medicaid, and other health care programs. “Everything else — the CBO score, the proper baseline, the minutiae of the Medicaid policy — is immaterial compared to the ICE money and immigration enforcement provisions,” he posted. (The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would see nearly 12 million people lose health insurance over the next decade. Minutiae. Has there ever been a more chilling word?)



Dama, who applied for asylum when he arrived, has been told that because his case is still pending, he is out of status, according to Lizotte. At a hearing on June 26, the judge told him he would need to start his asylum application all over again, she says. He has a bond hearing scheduled for July 3, to determine whether he can be released.

Until then, the family waits, hoping he isn’t transferred in the meantime. “Every single day we hope and pray,” Lizotte says. “What he sees is at 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m., in the middle of night, other people are being transferred. They are not given the chance to make phone calls to family members.”

The restaurant that made Lizotte a 2024 James Beard award semifinalist remains open. Dama’s calm, helpful, welcoming presence is missed, a sense of emptiness in its place. Employees are afraid, but also determined to keep going, for now.

“There are a lot of people where he is that don’t have the support, they don’t have any voice outside,” Lizotte says. Telling these stories where and how we can shines light on what is happening in American restaurants right now.




 Devra First can be reached at devra.first@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @devrafirst.

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