Mere weeks after Trump Burger owner Roland Beainy was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, federal authorities confirmed that another partner in the Texas-based restaurant chain faces deportation, the Houston Chronicle reports.
ICE agents detained Iyad Abu El Hawa, who founded Trump Burger forerunner Trump Cafe, on June 2, and he’s being held in a detention facility in Montgomery County. The agency alleges that Abu El Hawa remained in the country illegally after a judge ordered his deportation in September 2009.
This isn’t Abu El Hawa’s first dustup with the law. Twenty years ago, he was convicted of injecting 1,100 people with fake flu vaccines at a health fair, according to U.S. Justice Department officials. The vaccines, according to court testimony, were found to actually be purified water.
While in federal prison, Abu El Hawa snitched on another inmate’s murder-for-hire plot before pleading guilty in his own case, according to the Justice Department. While in the pen, Abu El Hawa met former doctor Ira Klein who was serving time for allegedly defrauding insurance companies of more than $10 million, department officials said.
Abu El Hawa said Klein offered him $250,000 to arrange the murders of an FBI agent, a district judge, a U.S. assistant attorney and Klein’s wife, the federal officials further maintain. After being paid the cash, Abu El Hawa reported the alleged offer to authorities.
Klein, already serving 10 years, subsequently pled guilty to charges related to the murder-for-hire plot, according to Justice Department officials.
Abu El Hawa founded Trump Burger’s forerunner, Trump Cafe, in 2016 before going into business with Roland Beainy and other partners and launching Trump Burger. The fast food chain, whose buns are emblazoned with “TRUMP,” has several locations in the Houston area, including Bellville, Flatonia, Houston and Kemah. However, the partnership between Abu El Hawa and Beainy has since soured, the Houston Chronicle reports, noting that Abu El Hawa’s wife accused Beainy of taking credit for the business idea.
Abu El Hawa attorney Jennifer Lopez told the Chronicle he’s being detained in “untenable conditions,” adding “he’s not doing well. In my opinion, they’re waiting for him to die.”
Abu El Hawa, who allegedly suffers from diabetes and a heart condition, no longer can feel his legs from the knees down and requires a wheelchair, Lopez also said. She’s reportedly filed requests that Abu El Hawa be paroled due to his condition.
Abu El Hawa’s country of origin is one of the many murky details in this convoluted plot.
ICE alleges Abu El Hawa is Israeli-born but holds Jordanian citizenship. Prior reporting by the Chronicle asserts that he was born in Jerusalem. In comments to the paper, Lopez maintains her client is Palestinian and, therefore, “stateless.”
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This article appears in Aug 21 – Sep 2, 2025.
