At Suya Joint in Roxbury, dinner service is typically a vibrant scene. Customers filter into the West African restaurant specializing in Nigerian cuisine. They order dishes like jollof rice, fried plantain or goat pepper soup. Afrobeats flows through the speakers.
“It feels really good actually, just like coming from a tiny village in Nigeria to be able to showcase the flavors, hospitality, our culture,” said owner Cecelia Lizotte. The restaurant has been a neighborhood staple for 10 years and received multiple Best of Boston awards. Lizotte herself was a James Beard Award semifinalist.
But underneath that joy, Lizotte feels a ton of anxiety.
Her brother and operational manager, Paul Dama, isn’t here. Early this summer, he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Typically, he helps run the business, which expanded to another location in Providence last year, but his absence has upended Lizotte’s business operations.
The Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement effort is taking a toll on some restaurants. Immigrants make up over 20% of all restaurant and food service workers and 36% of restaurant owners, according to the National Restaurant Association. That figure doesn’t include unauthorized workers.
In July, the National Restaurant Association asked Trump for “targeted relief” from his immigration enforcement actions. In a letter, the industry trade group noted that 77% of restaurant operators struggle to hire and retain staff.
Aaron Allen, who runs his own global restaurant advisory firm, said losing immigrants would harm businesses given that the industry already doesn’t have enough workers.
“ Your prices are gonna go up even faster and higher than they have in the past,” Allen said. “Or, at a minimum, your service level is gonna drop by about 20 or 30%. Most likely, it’s going to be a combination of the two.”
ICE raids across the country have swept up restaurant workers — both with legal papers and not. In some places, workers regardless of status fear going to their jobs. And some restaurants in Boston have seen fewer immigrant customers due to concerns about ICE.
Lizotte remembers when she got a frantic call from her brother telling her what happened. He was on his way to church in June when federal agents picked him up.
“ Like I just felt drained,” she said. “Everything in me just like died instantly.”
Dama has a valid work authorization and a pending asylum case, according to his attorney Abeba Attles. She said Dama is seeking asylum due to his kidnapping by Boko Haram, a terrorist group, and “did everything proper” to be legalized in the U.S.
ICE Boston spokesperson James Covington said Dama has been “unlawfully residing” in the country since 2019 when his visitor visa expired, and he has two convictions from last year for operating under the influence.
Lizotte said her brother did everything the judge required, including community service.
Dama is detained in Dover, New Hampshire and a judge will hear his case Tuesday.
But in the meantime, Lizotte has been struggling to keep her business going without her brother. She now drives back and forth between Boston and Providence each day to manage her restaurants.
“ But having Paul, I would’ve just called to say, ‘Okay, take over the Boston location’ and he’s readily available,” Lizotte said.
She’s also changed how she gets some of her special ingredients.
“Some of the spices, I do bring them from Nigeria. I haven’t been able to travel. So we’re running down on spices,” Lizotte said.
Instead of traveling to get the items she needs, she now pays hefty shipping costs to get them.
It’s all taking a toll on her. Some days she’s considered just shutting down her business. But her employees have urged her not to. She has about 20 employees between the two restaurants.
“ I have both full-time and part-time employees that are saying, we need you to be strong and we need the job,” Lizotte said.
Community members and customers have rallied to support Lizotte. They’ve gathered at her restaurant, written letters of support and raised money to help with her brother’s legal fees.
Longtime customer Ashleigh Gordon contributed to the fundraising effort. She runs an arts nonprofit a couple blocks away from Suya Joint.
“So it is very, very, very close to home,” Gordon said. “I felt very charged to contribute and help.”
Gordon dined with artist Daniel Callahan, another longtime customer.
“We definitely made a decision to come here specifically because of all that’s going on to show our support,” Callahan said. “This is the time when community needs to come around places like this.”
Tracy Chang, the owner of the Spanish-Japanese tapas restaurant in Cambridge named Pagu, said the current immigration policies could also potentially lead to the loss of different types of cuisine in our communities.
“I think what’s happening now is, you know, we’re at risk of losing culture,” Chang said. “We’re at risk of losing small businesses. We’re at risk of losing those delicious, festivals and celebrations. If those people are not allowed to come or if those people are not allowed to stay.”
Lizotte, the owner at Suya Joint, hopes she doesn’t have to close her business, but she has to wait to see what happens with her brother’s case.
“Hopefully if everything goes well, Paul will be back here with us and we will just continue to keep going strong,” Lizotte said.
In the meantime, she’ll do what she can to make her customers feel at home — even though she feels uneasy.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
Copyright 2025 WBUR
