Anh speaks at Saturday’s rally in support of her husband’s return home. (Photo: Rasheed Z. Ajamu)

“No hate, no fear. Immigrants are welcome here,” echoed up and down the 300 block of W Chelten Ave on Saturday afternoon. Community members, from Germantown and beyond, showed up with big signs and high spirits to show support for the co-owner of the Das Good Cafe, Anou Vongbandith.

A popular image of Vongbandith’s bold, bright face, with the words “Please Help Bring Anou Home” pressed onto 60 black shirts, was most prevalent in the swarming crowd.

Two folks wearing them were also the minds behind it: G-Town Tees owners, Charles and Kathy Sutton. 

Kathy says after hearing the news about Vongbandith, she and her husband made the shirts and wore them to the eatery and asked Anh, Anou’s wife, if they could make more.

With a sure yes from Anh, Kathy says they produced and donated those, and 28 other white shirts with colorful wording and no image, to organizers of the event.

And why was it important for these neighbors to not only commit to this act of service and attend the rally?

“Did you ever meet him?” Kathy asked, referencing Anou, following the rally. She said, “If you have, then you know the answer.”

The Suttons’ sentiments echo those of many who have ever encountered the aura of the Vongbandiths, who the Suttons say make them feel like family.

The sentiments also help one understand how over 300 people showed up to the rally in support of the beloved chef, father, and husband.

After an opening from Reverend Greg Holston, Anh addressed the crowd, giving sentiment to the long two-decade trials and tribulations the family has faced. 

“Here we are, living the consequences over again,” she said to the crowd of supporters.

As initially reported by the Germantown Info Hub, Anou Vongbandith was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities on July 26th after being in the United States for 45 years.

Though he once had a green card, a decades-old, misguided guilty plea to a felony charge took that away, marking the first time Anou was taken from his family.

Fast forward, after being on supervision, checking in twice a month for 16 years, this is, yet again, the biggest challenge the Vongbandith family faces.

As she tearfully detailed how Anou isn’t familiar with his country of origin, Laos, or the language, she joked about how even when his mom speaks to him, Anou “tries to figure out what the hell she’s saying.”

And while the crowd shared a laugh, it didn’t lessen the severity of the conversation, or her plea to bring him – and countless others – home.

While deportation is one risk, there’s another, much greater risk that deportation only exacerbates. Anou is currently at Moshannon Valley Processing Center, where he doesn’t have access to his medication.

As it stands, Anou has a heart that only pumps at 27% of its standard capacity and is twice its normal size since a bout with COVID-19. 

She makes it clear that getting his medical needs met is also her top priority. “Without proper care, he will not survive,” she said.

Moshannon has also been a topic of discussion this week since the uncertain death of a 32-year-old detainee, which speakers also called attention to. 

Saturday’s call-to-action was sponsored by and featured numerous speakers from Reclaim Philadelphia, Asian Americans United, Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance, West Central Germantown Neighbors, and Philly Neighborhood Networks.

They stood behind Anh, alongside community leaders and organizers like Rev. Holston, Tim Hayes, State Rep Chris Rabb, and Senator Art Haywood, to call on federal-level elected officials like Congressman Dwight Evans to exercise their power and grant a motion to stay for Anou.

While Evans was not in attendance at the rally, Ben Turner, Evans’ Communications Director, told GIH last week that “Congressman Evans’ office is aware of the case and has been in contact with the family, and our office is sympathetic to Mr. Vongbandith and his family.”

Reclaim’s first Black Executive Director and Germantown native, Seth Anderson-Oberman, also spoke at the rally.

He said, “What’s happening to Anou is straight-up political violence,” scolding the current presidential administration and actions being taken by ICE across the country against immigrants.

Immigrant arrests of those with no criminal history have spiked nationwide since the demand from Trump aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that immigration authorities meet a 3,000-a-day arrest quota, as initially reported by Axios. Just last week, the Justice Department claimed that the demand was never officially issued.

“It’s not about law & order, it’s about the whitening of America,” he added.

And the former Eighth District City Council candidate made it clear that in times like these, “Germantown doesn’t stay quiet.”

He underscored the importance of showing up in support of current immigration issues, citing that it’s in the same spirit of resistance and social progression that the neighborhood is historically credited for.

“Germantown didn’t stay quiet when we fought to end slavery! We didn’t stay quiet when we fought for civil rights, and to end racist imperialist wars! And we’re sure as hell not gonna stay quiet while Trump tries to rip our neighbors from their families!”

He sent a reminder that if one group of people’s rights is affected, everyone should be worried.

“If they come for Anou in the morning, they’ll be coming for you in the evening,” he shouted, making a call for solidarity amongst neighbors on the issue of immigration.

Rep Rabb, who serves the 200th district, addressed the crowd and Anh, saying, “This is what community looks like. A community that loves justice and transcends political boundaries.”

He clarified that on the current national issue of immigration and deportation, that isn’t just a one-sided party issue, nor is it a new issue, citing ICE backings by Democrats in the past few months.

“America has never been great,” he roared to the crowd, as they cheered back in full solidarity.

“This has been going on for multiple administrations and not just Republican ones.”

Former Democratic President Barack Obama has the highest record for removals of noncitizens in the U.S. during his time as president, surpassing that of any other.

Deportations and their lasting impacts on families are among the policy issues where more constructive criticisms of Obama’s legacy as president are often discussed.

Rev. Holston closed out the speaking portion of the rally after other speakers had gone. He ended by calling on community members to attend a protest planned for Moshannon in Phillipsburg, PA, on Sunday, August 24th.

As a final display of solidarity, Neighbors filled the south side of the street between Pulaski Avenue and the entrance to the Weavers Way, just a few square feet from the corner on Morris. It was a colorful display with people of all races, from different places, in varying styles of clothing and ages, with a common message.

“Bring Anou Home,” they roared.

They held up their signs to attract attention and get the honks of vehicles passing. The energy projected by community members got them the outcomes they desired, as their presence made it hard for anyone to ignore them.

Local artist and Germantown neighbor, Ursula Rucker, was in attendance and says it was her “top thing” to show up to this past weekend.

She says that while she knows the political climate has been tense, she admittedly never believed something could happen so close to home.

“I wanna say I believe that anything could happen at any time, but it hits so much different when you know the person and there’s just a different level of care involved,” she told the Germantown Info Hub after the rally.

Another Germantown neighbor in the crowd was Anaiis Salles, who also showed up to a sign-making event for the rally the prior Thursday, August 7.

At the sign-making event, she said she never would have imagined “in a million years” that something like this could happen in her backyard and that neighbors have to get out to show support for causes like these.

“We’re not going to shut up and go away quietly while our friends, neighbors, and people important in our communities disappear,” she declared.

Some perceptions of how issues like immigration affect Germantown could be skewed by the fact that the neighborhood is a predominantly Black neighborhood, with white residents as the second highest majority.

Deportation and ICE arrests have common media framings of primarily affecting Latino communities, which could lead to a disconnect between neighbors from the larger issue.

However, recent enforcement patterns in PA show that frequent arrests are made by ICE towards people without criminal records and from different backgrounds. This means that Germantown could be affected even if it’s not seen as a hotspot.

Germantown resident for 34 years, Laura Richlin, says that alongside supporting Anou, she came to see how the community would turn out in a situation like this.

“And we did. Germantown turned out,” she said.

While GIH requested to speak with Anou via the ICE systems, we have not yet made contact with him.

However, in a following interview with Anh, she says her husband was almost brought to tears by the display. She said their family is grateful for all those who showed up in support of her husband.

This story was taken and expanded upon from original reporting done by GIH on our Instagram account.