Family of business owner detained by ICE say she was a pillar of the West Valley community

PHOENIX — Kelly Yu removed her wedding ring moments before federal immigration agents detained her in May.

“I put it on my pinky,” her husband, Aldo Urquiza, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos on Thursday.

Neither he nor Kelly’s daughter got to hug her goodbye. Just five minutes after the family stepped into what they thought was a routine immigration check, six agents closed in. They surrounded Kelly, cutting her off from her loved ones.

Owner of West Valley sushi restaurants in ICE detention center in Eloy

“This was one of her regular check-ins that she would do once a month,” Urquiza said. “Waking up that morning, I had a bad feeling. … She warned me even before that she could be taken right then and there at any time she showed up.”

Yu is being held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Eloy Detention Center and her removal from the U.S. has been ordered despite having no criminal record, 12News first reported.

Yu fled China as a teenager 21 years ago, entering the U.S. without documentation to seek asylum from the country’s one-child policy. She was around six months pregnant with her daughter.

Since then, Yu has grown deep roots in the West Valley community. She and Urquiza own two Kawaii Sushi restaurants, with locations in Peoria and Glendale.

Urquiza said Yu has a message to the community: She’s sorry she entered the U.S. illegally, but she did it to save her daughter’s life.

“She’s just asking for forgiveness and a chance for cancellation of (her) removal and her adjustment of status,” Urquiza said. “That’s all she’s asking for.”

Daughter of detained Peoria woman shares her struggles

Yu’s absence means her 21-year-old daughter, Zita Yu, will bear the responsibility of taking over her family’s business weeks before she starts her senior year at Arizona State University.

Her mother’s arrest took place on May 28, one of the few times Zita decided to accompany her to the courthouse.

“This was the only time she wasn’t prepared,” Zita said. “Usually she’s prepared with the suitcase in case they take her.”

Zita is referred to as her mother’s “mini me” on the restaurant’s website.

Family of detained Peoria woman said she was a beacon of the community

Zita said her mother faced many legal obstacles in her journey to gain citizenship, but that never stopped her from giving Americans jobs and supporting local organizations.

“Just think about how how much of a citizen she is without her title,” Zita said.

She said her mother never let her immigration status stop her from being a cornerstone of the West Valley.

“We support local high schools, elementary schools, football programs, baseball programs, music programs, the Peoria Fire Department, the police department,” she said. “When do you see day-to-day citizens doing stuff like that?”

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