Wichita officials challenged federal immigration enforcement after ICE took bakery owner Rabih Attar into custody at a required annual check-in on Oct. 22. Yessica Pena, owner of Lady Burritos LLC, and three relatives were arrested after reporting to the agency’s Wichita office the next morning.
Attar, known as Rob, went to the ICE office at 555 N. Woodlawn around 10 a.m. He owns La Galette French Bakery at 1017 W. Douglas in the Delano District.
Wichita City Councilman Joseph Shepard said the detentions did not match what local officials had been told about federal agents’ targets. “Rob and Yessica were not the profile of the folks that we were told that federal agents were going after,” he said.
Close to 75 people gathered outside the bakery Saturday, holding signs and chanting “Bring Rob home!” One sign read “Human Needs are Human Rights.”
Attar’s annual check-in followed convictions that cost him his green card
Attar, 50, came to the United States from Lebanon as a 16-year-old in 1993. He and his uncle John Abdayem were arrested in 2000 during a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raid at Cafe Lafayette, a restaurant at 13th and Tyler in Northwest Centre. Abdayem was 35 and a co-owner; Attar was 23.
Attar pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including drug distribution and possession offenses, plus firearm offenses tied to drug trafficking. A federal court sentenced him in January 2001 to 72 months in prison and three years of supervised release. He was out of Bureau of Prisons custody by April 2006. Abdayem received the same prison term and supervised release, with the court strongly recommending intensive drug treatment.
Attar lost his green card but was allowed to remain in the country on the condition that he report once a year. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said he lost his legal status in 2004 because of the convictions. His name appears in no other Wichita municipal, Kansas state or federal criminal cases beyond traffic infractions more than a decade old.
Attar bought La Galette from his aunt and uncle in 2021, after working in the kitchen with his uncle for more than two decades. The restaurant is 40 years old.
Arif sought 60 days for an effort to restore Attar’s green card
Attorney Abdul Arif took the case Thursday after Krista Attar contacted him. He filed an emergency motion asking ICE to let her husband remain in the country for 60 days while he seeks to have the green card reinstated. Arif said he was sending Krista to Kansas City with the paperwork.
He was exploring whether Attar’s conviction “can somehow be waived because it's 20 years old and he has not reoffended.” On Monday, Oct. 26, Arif said he was waiting for a response. If ICE denies the motion, he hopes to find a Kansas City lawyer experienced in writ of habeas corpus filings.
“He did his time. He paid the due. He's built a business and has had absolutely no criminal record,” Arif said. He also argued that President Trump’s immigration crackdown prompted the detention. Arif called Attar “a model citizen” and said his wife and children, who are U.S. citizens, would lose their father if he were deported.
Pena and three relatives were transferred to detention
Pena, her mother, her 22-year-old brother and her 20-year-old sister went to the ICE office after receiving a letter Tuesday evening directing them to report the next morning. They were arrested and transferred to an ICE detention center in Chase County.
The family fled Chihuahua, Mexico, in 2013 after organized crime members attacked and tortured Pena’s father. They crossed the U.S. border to seek asylum. Pena arrived as a young teenager, attended East High School and Wichita State University, and developed a burrito business that often operates through pop-up events.
Her friend Raquel Reyes said she had been “glued to her phone” while waiting for updates. A GoFundMe for the family had collected $12,174 by Monday afternoon for legal expenses and possible relocation costs.
Shepard described Pena as a hard-working Wichitan who cares about people. He said she started the business to bring convenient food to construction workers. “In fact, she started Lady Burritos, LLC out of empathy and compassion to want to be able to provide good food at a convenience to people working on construction sites,” he said.
Family and employees are trying to keep both businesses running
Krista Attar, 48, said the family became nervous each year as her husband’s check-in approached. The couple married in 1999 and have children ages 11 and 14. She recalled his call after the arrest: “I thought this is going to be like every other year. And then he called me moments later, just before I drifted off, and he said, 'Krista, they got me. I have cuffs on'”
At the Saturday gathering, she said, “This is Rob's home. This is the American dream. He's worth fighting for.” She also said she wore her husband’s wedding rings while waiting: “I have his diamonds, and these are my diamonds. So, he's with me.” Krista said the turnout left her “the most overwhelmed and humbled I have ever felt in my life.”
She initially said the bakery could not last more than a day or two without Attar, who handled most cooking, baking and preparation and was the only person who knew how to make the food. By Monday, longtime employee Maria Esparza was taking on his duties. John Abdayem, Rob’s uncle and owner of TJ’s Burger House, was teaching her the family recipes. Former owner Tony Abdayem, another uncle, planned to help after returning from vacation.
Esparza said Attar called staff from the facility after his arrest and asked them to keep the business going. “I mean, we have to relearn from scratch. We try to do our best, and as I said, it's not just for him; it's for us, for the family, and for the economy.” She added, “We're a big family.” Reyes was filling in to keep Pena’s scheduled pop-ups running.
Attar’s father, Tanios Attar, said, “Maybe there will be a good judge with a good heart, but only God knows what will happen now. If he goes to Lebanon, maybe he doesn't see his kids and wife anymore.” Wichita protester Megan said she hoped he would return to the kitchen. Customer Pat Lehman called the detention “a disgrace” and said Attar had been part of the community for years.
Kansas officials have described different enforcement priorities
ICE reported 104 arrests during a three-day operation in southwest Kansas from Sept. 22–24. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the operation targeted noncitizens with criminal histories.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE was not conducting worksite operations in Kansas and was instead targeting “heinous criminals.” Gov. Laura Kelly addressed meatpacking workers at an Oct. 5 town hall in Dodge City. “The only way that this is going to stop is by changing the people who have influence in Washington, D.C.,” she said.
A Migration Policy Institute analysis published Oct. 22 estimated about 660,000 deportations during the previous fiscal year, about 26% above the annual average under the Biden administration. The analysis found that many people deported from inside the country had lived in the United States for years.
As of Monday, Oct. 26, Krista said her husband remained in Oklahoma and had been told he would stay at least another 24 to 48 hours. ICE told him he had lost his stay and would be sent to its detention center in Kay County, Oklahoma, before deportation to Lebanon.
