Lawrence community rallies around popular restaurant owner detained by ICE
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- GoFundMe has raised more than $11,000 in just over four days.
- Victor Roman was detained by ICE in late April and faces deportation to Guatemala.
- Community members submitted character letters to the immigration judge on Roman’s behalf.
A prominent Lawrence restaurant owner known for his generosity and ready smile has been detained by federal immigration authorities, sparking anger and an outpouring of support from the community.
Victor Roman, the owner of Los Guapos Latin Food on West Sixth Street, is being detained in Kansas City and facing imminent deportation to Guatemala, according to a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $11,000 in just over four days.
“The suddenness and severity of this situation have left the family and our community reeling, unsure of what the future holds for Los Guapos and the people who depend on it,” the fundraiser’s description reads.
“We are coming together to raise funds that will go directly toward supporting Victor during his time in Guatemala — while he awaits his return to the U.S. — so he can be reunited with all the people who love him so,” it continues.
Roman opened Los Guapos in September 2024 with his partner, Lourdes Perez Rojo. Perez Rojo, who also owns Lulu’s Latin Food in Lawrence, confirmed to The Star that Roman was detained by ICE in late April.
Perez Rojo said she is only receiving sporadic updates about Roman’s immigration case as she works to keep the restaurants open and care for her own children and Roman’s two young boys from a previous relationship.
‘He just brings happiness’
Erin Spiridigliozzi, a former associate dean at the University of Kansas and a Los Guapos regular, is the organizer behind the GoFundMe page collecting donations for Roman’s family. She and other Lawrence community members have also penned character letters to the judge presiding over Roman’s immigration case.
“He is an asset to our community. He is an approachable, forthright, and an honest person,” Spiridigliozzi wrote in the letter, which she provided to The Star. “He is helpful to patrons and friends alike. He is a hard worker, as evidenced by the restaurant that he and Lulu built from scratch.”
In an interview, Spiridigliozzi said Roman’s defining characteristic is his warmth.
“When you go into his restaurant, he immediately says, ‘Hello, Papa! Hello, Mama!’ And then he tells you, ‘I love you.’ And that’s not just me. That’s everybody,” she said. “That’s who he is. He just brings happiness.”
Spiridigliozzi called the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown “unconscionable,” citing a 2025 study by the libertarian Cato Institute, which found that 65% of people detained by ICE had no criminal convictions and 93% had no violent convictions.
“I’m all for pulling the criminals off the streets. I get it,” Spiridigliozzi said. “But when you’re just pulling people off the streets because you’re trying to meet quota numbers … This is not coherent policy.”
Cathy Morris, who taught Perez Rojo’s children at a Lawrence elementary school and met Roman at Los Guapos, also wrote a character witness letter for the detained restaurateur.
“He’s an important part of Los Guapos and of Lulu and the boys,” Morris said. “It just doesn’t seem right to (arrest) people that are doing things and building a community and building things like restaurants and paying their taxes and doing the right thing.”
She said the quick response to the call for donations is a testament to what Lawrence community members value in their neighbors.
“I never would ask anybody what their immigration status is or, you know, are you citizens? That’s not my business,” said Morris, who now lives in Eudora. “If you are a good, hard-working member of the community, you have every right to be here.”
