JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A husband and wife accused of harboring illegal immigrants in their home appeared in federal court Friday morning.
The couple, Xiu Rong Liu and Liang Wu Yang, are U.S. citizens and own the Fujiyama Steakhouse in the River City Marketplace on the Northside, which was raided in July.
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On Friday, they were granted bond of $10,000 each. According to The Florida Times-Union, they posted that bond and were released from custody.
Agents with the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement began investigating the couple's Tori Lane home after receiving a tip about the possibility of a Guatemalan national smuggling a 16-year-old girl into the country, according to a criminal complaint.
DOCUMENT: Criminal complaint for harboring illegal aliens
Instead, the agents found eight people at the home and mattresses on the floor of the formal dining room, which had been converted to a makeshift bedroom, the complaint said.
Of the eight people in the home, six are in the country illegally: five from Indonesia and one from Guatemala, the agents said.
Investigators said they learned that the six illegal aliens worked at the couple's restaurant and lived at the house rent free.
All six were detained and questioned.
Their current status can't be disclosed, according to an ICE representative, but investigators said immigration officials will work on deporting them.