The owner of a La Galette French Bakery was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and may be deported to Lebanon.

Attorneys for the restaurant owner, Rob Attar, hope to get a “stay-in-place.”

Employees at La Galette say ICE took him into custody while he was doing his regular annual immigration check-in.

“The phone rang, and it was him from the facility saying that he was arrested,” Maria Esparza, an employee at La Galette, said. “They said that he has nothing to withhold, and he doesn’t know what else is going to happen, so he just wants to let us know to do whatever we can and try to keep the business going.”

He’s accused of being in the U.S. illegally.

Esparza says she and other employees are stepping up to keep Attar’s 40-year-old restaurant open.

“I mean, we have to relearn from scratch,” Esparza said. “We try to do our best, and as I said, it’s not just for him; it’s for us, for the family, and for the economy.”

Immigration Attorney Abdul Arif represents Attar. Attar has been in the U.S. since 1993, and in 2000, Arif says police arrested Attar on federal weapons and other charges. He says Attar served six years in prison, completed his probation, and hasn’t been in trouble with the law since. He also says Attar married an American woman, but he couldn’t get his green card because of his conviction.

“I don’t want to get too technical with it, but we are exploring a possibility that his conviction can somehow be waived because it’s 20 years old and he has not reoffended, and he is a model citizen by all accounts,” Arif said. “We have filed an emergency motion with ICE to stay his deportation.”

La Galette customers are doing all they can to support Attar.

“It’s a disgrace,” Pat Lehman said. “It’s like we know what it was like to live in Nazi Germany, because that’s exactly what’s happening to people in our country today, and it’s a disgrace. He’s been a member of our community for years and years, and to have someone just snatched away like that, I can’t imagine.”

A spokesperson with the Department of Homeland Security says Attar was convicted of smuggling marijuana and selling cocaine, as well as multiple weapon offenses. The spokesperson said Attar lost his legal status in 2004 because of his convictions.

Attar’s attorney says Attar’s was driving to Kansas City to meet with ICE in hopes of getting a stay in the case. The attorney says that will give him more time to research the case and move forward.