ICE Arrests Owner of Popular Restaurant After Ties to Chinese Government Were Confirmed (2025)

The owner of a New Jersey sushi restaurant was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement a year after his sentencing for espionage on behalf of China.

ICE agents based in Newark arrested Ming Xi Zhang on March 24 in, New Jersey, according to an ICE news release.

“Any illegal alien conducting activities related to espionage, sabotage or export control against the United States is subject to deportation,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris said.

Zhang legally entered the United States in June 2000, the release said, but later “violated the terms of his lawful admission.”

ICE arrested Ming Xi Zhang, a Chinese national who was sentenced last year for acting as an agent of a foreign government without prior notification to the U.S. Attorney General. He was detained March 24 in Newark, New Jersey, and remains in ICE custody. https://t.co/DzG93reLpG pic.twitter.com/Q1qjFkkoih

— ERO Newark (@ERONewark) March 26, 2025

Zhang, called “Sushi John,” at the Ya Ya Noodles restaurant he operates in Montgomery Township, New Jersey, was sentenced to three years’ probation in April 2024 after being convicted of working as a Chinese agent in 2016, according to the New York Post.

In May 2021, he pleaded guilty to the charge against him.

The Post said Zhang met with Chinese officials in the Bahamas in 2016 and later passed along $35,000 to a New Jersey resident. He also hosted a Chinese government agent at his Princeton home that fall.

Emily Zhang, Zhang’s daughter, said her father was told to report to federal authorities.

“Once he got there, they would not let him leave. There are no specific charges that I know about,” she said, according to the Montgomery News.

She said her father had a hearing on April 10 at which he asked to be set free.

She said the judge ruled that the Elizabeth Immigration Court did not have jurisdiction in his case.

Emily Zhang insisted her father had done nothing wrong.

“He has not violated the terms of his probation,” she said.

Public Affairs Officer Chrissy Cuttita of ICE Homeland Security Investigations Newark and Enforcement & Removal Operations Newark said Zhang was arrested “because [he] violated the terms of his lawful admission.”

Looks like Sushi John’s secret ingredient was a little too spicy —guess he’s rolling out of the restaurant business for now! 🍣 🔥 https://t.co/hnTeeOV4Nl

— Sophie Chea (@PepperGii) April 12, 2025

“U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement arrests aliens in the United States in violation of immigration law and aims to uphold the integrity of our immigration system while promoting public safety,” Cuttita said.

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