PHILADELPHIA — Several hundred people filled the block outside Das Good Cafe in the Germantown neighborhood here Aug. 9 chanting “Bring Anou home!” and “Who’s our neighbor? Anou’s our neighbor!” The rally protested Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention of co-owner Anovsack “Anou” Vongbandith.
Now 50 years old, Vongbandith came to the U.S. when he was 5, fleeing Laos with his parents. He can’t speak the Lao language and has only loose connections to family there. His immediate family is here. He has a serious heart condition and his family doesn’t know if he is getting the care he needs.
Vongbandith and his wife, Ahn, opened their restaurant a year ago and are well known to people in the neighborhood.
Ahn, who is spearheading his defense, spoke at the rally, saying her husband was picked up by ICE as he left for work July 26 and is currently being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center.
“This is not about just Anou, but it’s about every family torn apart like ours, every person who belongs here, and is being forced away from their loved ones,” she said.
“So I’m asking you to help bring Anou home. Help bring all of them home. Home to their families, to their friends, to their communities who love them.”
The rally was organized by West Central Germantown Neighbors, Asian Americans United, Reclaim Philadelphia, and the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance. Also speaking at the rally were Rev. Gregory Holston, State Rep. Christopher Rabb, and State Sen. Art Haywood.
Anou never obtained citizenship and had his green card taken away when he and his wife were accused of child abuse in 2008 in Florida by their then 15-year-old daughter. They were charged after Ahn accused a 21-year-old man their daughter was seeing of statutory rape, and the girl sought retribution.
When their three children were placed in foster care, Anou took a plea deal to get them home, which is now being used to try and deport him. Their daughter, now 35, has since denied any abuse ever happened.
Anou’s attorneys never mentioned that accepting the plea deal would place him in violation of immigration law. Since then, he has been under ICE supervision, checking in twice a year with the agency. It makes Anou “so angry that he took a plea deal out of fear,” Ahn told the Chestnut Hill Local.
Because of his heart condition, “if he goes to Laos without his medication, he will not survive,” she said.
John Booth, a cook at Shriners Hospital, who came across the protest on his way to work, told the Militant, “I didn’t know anything about this even though I live around the corner. It’s great so many people see how important it is to speak up and stand together in the neighborhood.”
“They’re ripping up families. I was pleased to see so much support to stop this,” said Alex Mohamed, owner of Takka Grill & Pizza right next door.
“I understand what deportation means. My grandfather from Colombia was deported back in the 1970s. Then he came back and was able to get legal papers when [President Ronald] Reagan issued a broad amnesty in the ’80s. It shows we can win,” student Jamie Nieves said.
Supporters have raised over $60,000 for Anou’s GoFundMe “Save Our Dad From Deportation” defense fund, which was started by his younger daughter, Jade.