In 2015, Salman Fnu moved to the United States and Flint area for the same reason many immigrants do: to chase the promise of a better life. And in just over a decade being in the Flint area, he’s built an impressive story for himself.
Fnu, a native of Indonesia, moved to the U.S. with an Employment Authorization Document (or “work Visa”) from the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS). He has a passion for food and cooking, and quickly found work in the restaurant industry, including at Sagano’s, a popular hibachi and sushi restaurant in Flint Township.
He found more than a job there, though. That’s where he met Ashley Parker. They became friends in 2018 when she began working there and started dating in 2019. First, they built a family together. They were married in 2024 and Parker says Fnu has been a parental figure to her three kids.
“He’s helped my oldest with his first haircut, and he helps so much with one of my twins, who has autism,” Parker said. “My husband has such a great heart.”
Shortly after they were married, they opened their own business together, Kabuki Hibachi and Sushi, on Corunna Road in the city of Flint, in 2025. It has quickly built a loyal customer base, but Parker and Hnu have also become pillars of the community with their willingness to look out for others.
They frequently donate to community causes, including to help with the Mott Park neighborhood’s Halloween party. On Tuesdays in what has become a tradition, Kabuki provides free meals to unhoused people or others who are hungry or in need of food.
“Salman was just the one that decided, like, ‘On Tuesdays, I’m gonna offer the homeless meals or anyone who needs one,’” Parker said. “If they come in, he told me to make sure and give them a drink and then he would give them food. It’s just become an important part of what we do.”
One of their longtime loyal customers is Lauryn Ellison. Kabuki has become a regular stop for her and her children, and she’s become close with the family as a result.
“It really just started out as me being a regular customer there,” Ellison said. “Me and my kids, we eat there a lot and spend a lot of time there. And Ashley and Salman and their staff, we always look forward to seeing them. They give me hugs when I come in, when I call they already know who’s on the phone and what my order is. Now my dad goes in there, my mom does. We’ve been like family.”
That’s exactly the sort of environment and life Fnu hoped to create when he came to the United States chasing his dream.
“He wanted to be successful, and then he eventually found love, which is a bonus,” Parker said. “His country, most people don’t have a lot of money there. He just wanted to live the American Dream, or pursue it anyway.”
A Major Disruption
In an instant, the lives Fnu and Parker had built for themselves was turned upside down when he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near his restaurant on September 25.
Fnu was not in the country illegally. But, like many people in the country’s immigration system, the immense amount of policy and procedural changes, wait times for documents to be processed and approved, and other administrative burdens can be disorienting, even for people who believe they are following those procedures properly.
“Our marriage license certificate for the green card (from 2024), all that is pending,” Parker said. “I think it’s because it’s still pending that that’s why they picked him up.”
Parker’s father is Fnu’s sponsor, or the person who signs a legally binding contract to provide financial support for a person applying for a green card or permanent residency.
“You have to have a sponsor, so we had to turn in all of my dad’s income information, taxes, IDs, birth certificate,” Parker said. “The amount of paperwork is insane, but anything I had to do, I was going to do it. We provided that information, but it’s just the waiting process. And then in that meantime, they came and picked him up. It’s so unfortunate that that happened.”
Lucine Jarrah, a coalition member with the Flint Alliance for Immigrant Rights (FAIR), says those types of administrative hurdles are not uncommon for people going through the immigration process and system. Rapidly changing regulations, types of documentation needed, and even methods for enforcement and detention create confusion for many people trying to follow the laws.
Some of the tactics used by ICE and U.S. Customs and Border Protection have also changed as leadership within the Trump Administration has changed. Earlier in the administration, high profile raids regularly got media attention. But now, many operations are done in ways that aren’t as attention-getting.
“Although the tactics may have changed, we know that the enforcement numbers and the detention numbers are proving that they are still detaining and deporting people at increasing levels every day,” Jarrah said. “We know that our neighbors are still being targeted and they’re being detained in inhumane facilities and every day we’re having to support families who’ve been separated from their loved ones, their children, and they’re being forced to live in this constant fear.”
Jarrah said the biggest key is for people in the community to stay informed. FAIR offers a large number of resources for both the immigrant community and others who want to support and help them. FAIR’s rapid response team provides a hotline for instant reporting of detainment or immigration enforcement activity and verification of those reports. They also connect people with a number of resources, including legal representation or other types of assistance. Reach out to contact.fairflint@gmail.com for information. FAIR regularly share events and updates on their Facebook and Instagram pages, and they’ve compiled a list of links to other resources and volunteer forms with information. They also provide Know Your Rights training for the community, so people know what to do if they come in contact with federal immigration officers. For community members looking to get involved and support their work, they have an upcoming community teach-in at UAW Local 659 (4549 Van Slyke Road) at 5:30 p.m. on October 24.
Jarrah also noted that it is important to continue sharing stories about neighbors and community members who are detained, and what they mean to their community and loved ones. Rhetoric from the administration often dehumanizes immigrants and portrays people being detained as criminals, rather than productive, valued, and beloved contributors to the places they live.
“Perpetuating these narratives and allowing them to inform policy decisions is a tactic of the administration and it’s all happening under the guise of ‘improving lives,’” Jarrah said. “But we know otherwise. So we will continue to uproot these narratives and also shed light on the ways in which this administration doesn’t actually care about improving our lives because if they did, we wouldn’t be putting billions into ICE and CBP, we would be putting that into expanding access to healthcare, food access, education, etc.”
Supporting the Family
Parker said the amount of support her family has received from the community has been overwhelming, both in the form of comments and messages on social media and also through a Go Fund Me campaign that Ellison set up to help the family and three other employees at Kabuki who have recently been detained.
“Everything that everybody has done has been so amazing,” Parker said. “I can’t thank them enough, honestly. I’m blown away at the amount that was donated. It’s appreciated, and Salman is so warm-hearted and so appreciative of all of this. It’s kept him positive, and it’s kept him going in there, all the support that we’ve got out here.”
For Ellison, her desire to step up and setup the Go Fund Me was a product of just seeing how often Fnu and Parker constantly step up for others in their community – she even remembers mistakenly not having enough money on a card once for an order she was picking up, and Salman making sure she still got her food. Ellison said he and Parker are known for treating everyone that way.
“They never change, they treat everybody the same no matter what,” Ellison said. “They feed people, they take care of people. They’ve just always looked out for me, my family, and others in the community as well. So the Go Fund Me is going to help support the families with whatever they need. We just want to spread the word and bring Salman home.”
Parker also said that their goal, when they can, is to reopen Kabuki, and she hopes the community will join them.
“We would love to be able to see everyone and have all of our customers back as soon as we can,” Parker said, noting that people can follow their Facebook page for updates.
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