Kingston Chef Busted in Immigration Sting

KINGSTON – The lead grill chef at a popular restaurant in Midtown Kingston was apprehended last week by officers of the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE). Juan Carlos Vasquez, 29, of Kingston, is currently being held in Orange County Correction Facility, on behalf of the New York Field Office.

Vasquez, known locally as Charlie, is a legal resident alien, working at the Anchor Restaurant and Pub using a Green Card, according to his boss, proprietor Brandy Walters. She said he is being held incommunicado, with little information available about his case or the reason for his seizure.

The cook has lived in the United States for 10 years, emigrating from Oaxaca, in southern Mexico. Walters noted that his income supports a sick and elderly father being treated for cancer in Tijuana, over 1,000 miles from home. Vasquez has been employed at The Anchor for two years, Walters said.

“We’re getting a lawyer, and taking the next steps of action, creating a Facebook web page, hopefully getting information out on how people can help, who they can call, what they should say, we are currently printing up half menus, because they took our main employee, and we were faced with either closing our doors, or slimming down our menu,” Walters said.

The issue of immigration has become a hot-button political topic, since the election of President Donald Trump, who vowed to tighten the borders, and deport undocumented criminals.

The Daily Freeman reported on last Thursday that Vasquez has an alleged misdemeanor DWI conviction. Walters claims that the driving offense is not the reason for his current incarceration; rather it is believed to have been triggered by a recent visit he made to the local Social Security office.

Congressional candidates John Faso and Antonio Delgado both have offices located on either side of the Anchor restaurant. The subject of immigration reform is a front burner point of discussion – and debate – in the upcoming midterm elections.

Patrons and activists gathered at the Anchor Thursday afternoon, to conduct a letter-writing campaign in effort to free their beloved line chef. The situation is becoming familiar to the Kingston community.

Last year, Leo Santos, former owner of Just For You restaurant, also located on Broadway in Midtown Kingston, voluntarily returned to Mexico after being threatened with deportation. The case and others like it prompted Mayor Steven Noble to declare Kingston a sanctuary city. This month, Noble offered undocumented aliens city identification, as did the City of Poughkeepsie.

Another local food purveyor, Bhavesh “Bobby” Bhatt, 43, faces deportation and separation from his wife, Jeanne Edwards, and child. They own the Glasco Deli near Mount Marion Elementary School, in Saugerties.