Trump Burger Closes After ICE Arrest, Texas Locations Shut Down

(TEXAS) The Trump Burger restaurant chain, a small but eye-catching fixture of MAGA-themed dining in Texas, has shut down all of its locations after its Lebanese owner, Roland Mehrez Beainy, 28, was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – Home for overstaying his visa. By October 2025, the lights were out at the last known site in Houston, the doors were locked, and the future of the brand that wrapped its identity around Donald Trump had, as one report put it, been left hanging “in the balance.”

ICE officers arrested Roland Mehrez Beainy on May 16, 2025, saying he failed to leave the United States by February 12, 2024, the departure date tied to the terms of a non-immigrant visitor visa he received in 2019. The agency later stressed that any political theme to his Trump Burger outlets, or the public profile they created, played no role in its actions. An ICE statement said:

“Despite false claims to the contrary, Roland Mehrez Beainy does not have any immigration benefits that prevented his arrest or removal from the United States,” and emphasized, “This is true regardless of what restaurant you own or political beliefs you might have.”

Beainy’s case has drawn attention because Trump Burger built its business by embracing the image and slogans of Donald Trump, even as its owner was, according to federal officials, living in the country without legal status. The chain’s sites in Bellville, Flatonia, Kemah and Houston leaned heavily into pro-Trump branding, with MAGA-style décor and menu items marketed to supporters of the former president. At its peak in early 2025, Trump Burger appeared to be expanding quickly across Texas, even as the immigration clock was running out on the man behind it.

According to ICE, Beainy entered the United States from Lebanon in 2019 as a non-immigrant visitor. His visa expired in February 2024, but he stayed on. In statements to media, the agency repeatedly rejected suggestions that he had any pending protection or legal pathway that might have shielded him from arrest. A spokesperson told local Houston outlet KHOU:

“Beainy doesn’t have any immigration benefits that would prevent him from being arrested or removed from the country.”

Another ICE statement added:

“Under the current administration, ICE is committed to restoring integrity to our nation’s immigration system by holding all individuals accountable who illegally enter the country or overstay the terms of their admission. This is true regardless of what restaurant you own or political beliefs you might have.”

The arrest on May 16, 2025 led to Beainy being placed into immigration proceedings, a process that can stretch on for months or years in the U.S. system. On June 13, 2025, an immigration judge granted his request for bond while he awaited further hearings on whether he will ultimately be removed from the United States. ICE also said Beainy faced allegations of “sham” marriages and had a criminal record that included an assault charge, adding another layer of legal complication beyond the visa overstay.

As Beainy’s legal problems deepened, the Trump Burger chain’s business troubles also began to surface. The company’s flagship site opened in Bellville in 2020, quickly becoming known for its overtly pro-Trump atmosphere in a small Texas town. A second location opened in Flatonia in late 2024, followed by a Kemah outlet in March 2025, as the brand tried to turn its political theme into regional growth. By April–May 2025, Trump Burger had pushed into Houston, opening a restaurant at 3410 Chimney Rock Road, placing its logo and neon signs along a busy urban corridor.

Yet the same branding that attracted attention may also have triggered legal headaches. Earlier in 2025, the Trump Organization sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Bellville location, according to reports cited by Texas media. That letter, though separate from the federal immigration case, added to the mounting pressure on Beainy and his business. The Trump Organization, which controls rights associated with Donald Trump’s name and brand, has a history of aggressively policing unlicensed commercial use, and the warning reportedly forced Trump Burger to reckon with intellectual property issues at the same time ICE was examining Beainy’s immigration file.

By the time reporters from the Houston Business Journal checked on the Houston Trump Burger in October 2025, the scene suggested a sudden and complete shutdown. The neon sign that once advertised Trump Burger was off. A “closed” notice hung on the locked doors. The parking lot, which only months earlier had served customers drawn by the restaurant’s political theme, was deserted. There were no staff inside, no customers outside, and no sign of ongoing operations. Attempts by journalists to reach Trump Burger for comment went nowhere; emails bounced back undelivered, and the chain offered no public explanation for the closures.

The collapse of Trump Burger has left an unknown number of employees out of work without warning. While the exact staff numbers at each site were not publicly detailed, four locations — Bellville, Flatonia, Kemah and Houston — all ceased operating within the same general period, after Beainy’s arrest and as his legal problems came to light. For workers at the Houston restaurant on Chimney Rock Road and the earlier sites in small-town Texas, the chain’s rapid expansion, followed by a complete and silent shutdown, meant jobs vanished almost overnight.

The case has also become another example of how immigration enforcement can touch unexpected corners of American life. The Trump Burger story drew attention partly because of its heavy association with Donald Trump’s political image, yet the enforcement action against its owner came under the same framework applied to other visa overstays. ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, has repeatedly said in this case that it is focused on people who “illegally enter the country or overstay the terms of their admission,” and that it does so “regardless of what restaurant you own or political beliefs you might have.” Information on how the agency conducts such operations, and on the rules governing non-immigrant visas, is posted on the official U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.

In the small Texas communities where Trump Burger once traded on partisan identity, the brand’s disappearance has been as striking as its arrival. In Bellville, the first Trump Burger opened in 2020, at a time when Donald Trump was still in the White House and MAGA merchandise was a familiar sight. The later expansions to Flatonia and Kemah in late 2024 and March 2025 suggested confidence that its mix of politics and fast food could draw steady business. The move into Houston just weeks before May 16, 2025 arrest appeared to cap an ambitious growth spurt. Instead, October 2025 marked a complete reversal, with all known locations shut amid unresolved questions about Beainy’s future in the country.

Beainy himself has not spoken publicly in detail about the immigration case, the chain’s finances or the allegations of “sham” marriages and assault cited by ICE. No personal accounts from him or from Trump Burger staff were available in the reports that chronicled the closure. That silence has left the public record dominated by government statements and visible signs on the ground: shuttered doors, darkened signs and abandoned parking lots at sites that once leaned hard into a highly polarized national brand.

For now, the story of Trump Burger stands at the intersection of immigration enforcement, politics-themed entrepreneurship and the precarious status of non-immigrant visitors who fall out of legal status. While Beainy remains in immigration proceedings after securing bond on June 13, 2025, his chain of restaurants — once marketed loudly as Trump Burger — has gone quiet. What began with a 2019 arrival from Lebanon and a single Bellville store in 2020 has, six years later, ended in a tangle of immigration hearings, legal warnings and closed doors across Texas, with the final word on Roland Mehrez Beainy’s ability to remain in the United States still to be decided.