Family in tears as beloved NJ chef freed from ICE detention

✅Beloved Monmouth County chef released after days of bureaucratic delays

✅Mayor Lori Hohenleitner and former council member traveled to Newark to pay his bond

✅A welcome home rally is planned for Saturday

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS — After several days of bureaucratic delays, a Monmouth County chef has finally returned home.

Ruperto Vicens Marquez was released by a judge from the for-profit Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark on Thursday afternoon during a bond hearing. After a 24-hour period for ICE to appeal the decision had passed, his bond could not be paid because the business office that accepts bond payments closed at 3 p.m. Friday.

Another delay on Monday led Atlantic Highlands Mayor Lori Hohenleitner and former borough Councilwoman Kerri Kennedy to go to Newark and pay his bond.  

Marquez walked out of Delaney Hall on Tuesday evening to the cheers of supporters.

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Emotional homecoming in Middletown after ICE detention

He told ABC 7 Eyewitness News he is “really happy to get out and grateful for everything." He said his kids jumped into his arms when he walked through the door of their Middletown home.

Marquez and his brother own Emilo's restaurant in Atlantic Highlands. Ruperto is the head chef.

Kennedy said a twice-postponed welcome-home rally for Marquez is now scheduled for Saturday at noon at Veterans Park.

In a statement to NJ.com, ICE said that Marquez was issued a final order of removal in July after entering the country illegally. Hohenleitner and Marquez's lawyer, Steve Lyons, dispute that claim and say that Marquez has employment authorization from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through 2029.

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