Everett and Brent Peak, a Democrat and the co-chair of progressive activist group Northwest Valley Indivisible, were making a rare bipartisan trip to visit Kelly Yu, the mother and owner of Kawaii Sushi and Asian Cuisine in Glendale and Peoria. Yu, who fled China as a pregnant 18-year-old before settling in Arizona, has been in ICE custody since May. Yu's daughter is a U.S. citizen and she is married to another. Despite that, she has a standing removal order and could be deported to China any day.
Everett doesn’t want that to happen. She’s a Trump supporter, but she sees no benefit in separating a longstanding local business owner from her loved ones. “I am all for getting the worst-of-the-worst out of here,” Everett said, quoting Donald Trump’s often-used pledge. “I am not in favor of separating good people from their family.”
That dollop of moderation is apparently high treason in the modern Republican Party. Two days after Everett’s visit, the Maricopa County Republican Committee censured her for advocating for Yu’s release and for her partnership with Peak. On Sept. 2, the MCRC approved the censure by a 23-6 vote for defying the Trump administration’s immigration policy, “bring(ing) scrutiny and criticism on the party” and ongoing long-term friction between Everett and other members of LD29.
Everett knew her advocacy on behalf of Yu might result in something like this, though she said she’s “disappointed” by it. The censure — which is essentially a strong finger wag and a slap on the wrist — called for her resignation, though Everett has no intention of providing it.
“I am going to stand up for what is right,” Everett told New Times. “Even when it’s hard.”
Yu’s plight has gained notable attention from the media, the community and several elected officials. Several Democrats have either met with Yu’s husband or traveled to Eloy to meet with Yu. On Sept. 6, Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego joined Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari in a letter urging Trump and members of his cabinet to “use their discretion to stay or suspend the removal of Kelly Yu.”
Few, if any, Republicans have joined the cause. (That includes Rep. Abe Hamadeh, whose district includes Kawaii Sushi.) That’s what makes Everett’s advocacy so unique. Everett joined the growing fight to call for Yu’s release in mid-August after Peak called to see if she “might be on the same page.” The duo had met while organizing rival protests at Hamadeh’s office. Despite their disagreements about most things, Everett was on board to support Yu.
Everett hasn’t shied from her support for Yu, writing about her visit to the detention center in a Sept. 8 newsletter to LD29 precinct committee members.
“The visitation room was sterile, hot, and joyless. There were no tissues for the many tearful families and no cups for the water cooler in the corner,” Everett wrote in her newsletter, which goes out to thousands of Republicans across the Valley. “In a place designed to strip humanity away, Kelly still shines as a light of compassion.”
Hurting America
Further down in her Sept. 8 newsletter, Everett wrote about her MCRC censure, which she took on the chin — and as a badge of honor. Her “name is now listed alongside an ever-growing roster of Republicans who have been censured by MCRC,” she wrote, a list that includes Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell, former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas Galvin, former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and even the entire Arizona Supreme Court.“Sadly, the people in charge treat this like a sports rivalry,” Everett said. “But the home team is supposed to be America, not the parties. We’re supposed to look out for what is best for America.”
Everett also believes the decision to censure her came from a “handful” of “extremely disruptive” precinct committee members who were “looking for anything” to hold against her. This group, Everett said, is motivated by a personal disdain for her after multiple former LD29 board members failed to get reelected. The censure alleged that Everett filed “multiple injunctions” against the disruptive group with the intent to “deprive” them of the ability to attend public LD29 meetings.
In an email response to the censure sent to the MCRC board, Everett said that wasn’t the case. Instead, she said she’s faced ongoing harassment from the group, which included “cornering someone in public, shoving a phone in their face, calling them names and escalating into physical assault” after she was pushed at a meeting. Everett said she’s often had to wait “15 to 20 minutes after meetings adjourn, hoping they will leave,” and has been “escorted by a uniformed officer to my car just to ensure these women would leave me alone.” Though the censure alleged that Everett paid court fees for the injunction with district money, Everett said she paid her “service fees out of my own pocket.”
Everett said this group with an axe to grind includes LD29 Treasurer Frank Jugo and former LD29 board members Steve Skvara and Mary Jane Ziola, who are both on the Dysart Unified School District Governing Board. Skvara and Ziola weren’t reelected to their positions on the LD29 board in November 2024.
When asked about the situation, Jugo told New Times over email that “I don’t deal with the Fake News Media.” Skvara denied any involvement, telling New Times he had “nothing to do with that.” Ziola did not respond to New Times’ request for comment.
Despite the pushback, Everett doesn’t plan to stop advocating for Yu, whom she worries could be deported soon. Every morning around 7:30 a.m., Yu texts her husband to let him know that she’s still at Eloy Detention Center. The day a text doesn’t arrive, it may be a sign that she has been flown back to China overnight. Every couple of days, Peak checks in with Yu's husband to confirm that she is still in Eloy.
In a Sept. 15 newsletter, Everett wrote that “there is hope for Kelly Yu” after Trump “intervened” in the deportation of more than 300 South Koreans detained by ICE while working at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. (The detained workers chose instead to return to South Korea.) “If he can act in that instance,” Everett wrote, "there is hope that he could also step in to stop the deportation of Kelly Yu.” It baffles Everett that anyone would desire this to happen to a mother, wife and local business owner.
“I’m not understanding how deporting Kelly Yu is going to help America. I only see it hurting America,” she said. “I’m not going to step down.”
Peak, whom the MCRC censure describes as “the leader of the ultra-left wing West Valley Indivisible Organization,” called the MCRC’s decision to censure Everett a “disappointment” but said he knew Everett “thought it would be coming.”
“I wish there were more Republicans like Lisa,” he said. “It’s sad that anyone who would try and reach across the aisle for a cause — that I think the majority of people would agree on — gets labeled a RINO, gets censured (and) gets urged to step down.”
