Newton Waite, the Jamaican-born chef-owner of Vineyard Caribbean Cuisine who has lived on Martha's Vineyard for 20 years, was arrested by ICE last September in the parking lot of a Falmouth food supply store after missing a court date because notice had been sent to the wrong address. He was held for nearly 10 months, shuffled between facilities in New York, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arizona and California, enduring overcrowding, inadequate food, limited bathroom access, and two untreated mini heart attacks at the Batavia, N.Y. facility. His daughter, Oshantay Waite, a U.S. citizen, advocated for his release with support from the Martha's Vineyard NAACP and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and on July 9, 2026 a California judge granted him a writ of habeas corpus, ruling his prolonged detention unconstitutional. He has since returned to the Vineyard and reopened his restaurant while his original immigration case proceeds before the Eleventh Circuit.