Owners of a Trump-themed burger joint, who ICE detained, have trolled the agency with a social media skit featuring the president, kind of.
Trump Burger, a Texas restaurant chain whose fare and decor conspicuously nod to the commander-in-chief, was thrust into the spotlight when founders Roland Beainy, 28, and Iyad Abuelhawa, 55, were caught up in their idol’s immigration crackdown.
Both men were accused of overstaying their visas and arrested by ICE officials.
Trump Burger is a viral MAGA eatery whose locations feature American flags, buns stamped “TRUMP,” and a presidential impersonator who went around asking Latino customers if they had green cards.
The chain has now responded to the arrests, posting a tongue-in-cheek skit on social media, featuring an ICE official and the Donald Trump impersonator.
“We’re at Trump Burger, they asked me to do an ice inspection and I got ICE with me,” the ‘president’ says in the clip, gesturing towards a man dressed in dark clothing, a face covering, shades, and a Trump-themed cap.
“Let’s check the ice machine,” the actor, clad in a MAGA hat, suit, and Trumpesque toupee, goes on. “What do you think in here? I’d say that passes. Really, really clean ice, absolutely huge ice. Really clean ice.”
The pair head for the kitchen, prompting a Spanish-speaking worker to bolt out of the back door and into a waiting pickup. His hasty departure provided the quip for the caption, “Happy Labor Day, Hiring New Chef.”
Abuelhawa, originally from Israel, was arrested by ICE agents on June 2. He is accused of being in the U.S. illegally for more than a decade.
In 2007, Abuelhawa, who previously served time in federal prison, was convicted of health-care fraud and misbranding of a drug for dangerously injecting 1,600 Houston-area residents with fake flu shots. He has also been separately convicted of assault and intimidation.
His Lebanese business partner, Beainy, was scooped up by immigration goons in May.
ICE has said that he entered the U.S. as “a non-immigrant visitor” in 2019 and was supposed to have left the country by mid-February last year. DHS has accused him of attempting to have a “sham” marriage in a bid to stay in the country.
Abuelhawa, who also goes by the name Eddie Hawa, started the Trump-themed eatery craze in Houston. He rebranded his restaurant in the Houston exurb of Bellville, Texas, into “Trump Cafe” in October 2016, before his idol was elected. He opened his first Trump Burger in 2020 and ran it with Beainy. Two more locations have since followed.
Trump Burger and the DHS were contacted for comment. The DHS told the Daily Beast that the department “has zero tolerance for immigration fraud.”
Referring to Beainy, a spokesperson added: “USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) revoked the petition after evidence, including admissions from the petitioner’s own family, exposed his marriage as a sham designed to game the system. This person has no Green Card, a history of illegal marriages, and an assault charge. DHS is actively pursuing all legal avenues to address this flagrant abuse of our immigration laws.”
