The owner of a New Jersey sushi restaurant, who was previously convicted of spying for China, has once again found himself in trouble, this time in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Despite his conviction, the individual was released back onto the streets, raising serious questions about the effectiveness of the immigration enforcement system and the dangers posed by individuals with ties to foreign adversaries.
Ming Xi Zhang, known as “Sushi John,” was taken into custody by ICE on March 24— nearly one year after he was convicted of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government and sentenced to three years probation.
In May 2021, Zhang pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of China in 2016 without notifying the U.S. Attorney General. Despite the serious national security risks his actions posed to the United States and its citizens, the Biden Administration allowed him to remain in the country with a remarkably lenient sentence.
ICE said that Zhang legally entered the U.S. in 2000 but later “violated the terms of his lawful admission.”
“Any illegal alien conducting activities related to espionage, sabotage, or export control against the United States is subject to deportation,” ICE Newark Field Office Director John Tsoukaris said in a statement.
He is currently held at the Elizabeth Detention Center, awaiting immigration proceedings.
In 2016, Zhang met with Chinese security officials in the Bahamas and delivered $35,000 to an unnamed individual in New Jersey. He also admitted to hosting a Chinese government agent at his home in Princeton on two separate occasions later that year.
This development comes as President Donald Trump intensifies his push for mass removals and broader detention authority to combat illegal immigration. The Trump administration has secured several key legal victories in recent days. On Saturday, a federal judge in Washington upheld the right of federal immigration agents to carry out enforcement operations at so-called “sensitive” locations—including churches and other houses of worship.