Owego restaurant owner Roger Huang was deported back to China on March 24 after living in the United States for over 30 years. Huang’s request to appeal a 1995 deportation order was denied the day before.
He came to the U.S. in the mid-1990s. WSKG was unable to confirm exactly when he entered the country.
WSKG received an email from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson which said Huang had “remained in the U.S. unlawfully for decades, had full due process in immigration court, and was determined removable”.
Immigration records available online identify Huang as “Wang Kong Xiong” and show that he was first denied entry to the country in 1993. ICE says it was because he tried to enter the U.S. with a fake passport.
The decision was appealed in 1994 and then a final deportation order was issued by an immigration court in 1995.
Huang was arrested by ICE agents in June 2025 and held in the Buffalo Federal Immigration Detention Center in Batavia until his deportation.
Huang lived in Owego for many years and owned the Chinese restaurant, Kam Fung. He is married and has two children. His attorney did not respond to interview requests from WSKG.
Huang received an outpouring of support from people in Owego who believe he should not have been detained or deported.
