ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Golden Apple Buffet in St. Charles has been back in business for just over a week now as the men behind it have bonded out on their charges of harboring illegal immigrants.

The restaurant is as busy as ever, despite dozens of workers remaining jailed.

An immigration lawyer for some of the workers says 10 of his clients have been ordered—in private hearings—to leave the U.S. despite their claimed legal status.

“They didn’t do anything wrong. They had no offenses. They followed all the rules,” attorney Jim Hacking said.

Hacking says one of his clients is fighting back by demanding a public court hearing. His court filing contains his client’s legal documentation such as his Visa and Work Authorization.

“So many people say, ‘why don’t you just do it the right way?’ Here my client did and he’s getting put in detention and deportation for it,” Hacking said.

Hacking claims his client was only detained because he was living in one of the crowded St. Peters homes raided.

“He literally moved seven days before the raid on the houses,” he said. “So, he found out about this job on Facebook that there was a restaurant hiring in St. Charles.”

All of his clients remain jailed since the ICE raid. Hacking said the ones who are giving up must pay for their own flights back.

“Detention is a hammer. Detention is a way to scare people and have them throw in the towel and leave the United States,” he said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not responded to our latest requests for answers. A spokesperson previously told FOX 2 News they are “following federal law” and can’t discuss investigations.

The restaurant operators charged with harboring illegals have pleaded not guilty. They bonded out of jail days before reopening their buffet and don’t yet have follow up hearings scheduled.

The hearings that led to nine of the workers being deported were held in hearings closed to the public, so we were unable to hear the government’s case. However, a future hearing on one worker challenging the feds will be held in public. We’ll be there so we can hear first-hand the government’s arguments.