Kurdish immigrant and Berrien County restaurant owner Ibrahim Parlak says it’s time for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to drop its efforts to have him deported to Turkey. Parlak held a press conference Wednesday to announce his attorneys have field their latest brief in the ongoing struggle to keep him in the U.S. as Homeland Security appeals a 2018 ruling granting Parlak relief under the Convention Against Torture Act. Parlak says he would be in great danger if sent back to Turkey. He says he should know what it’s like there.
“Two years, I spent two years in a Turkish jail,” Parlak said. “I have been 27 days in Turkish police custody under interrogation. I have been through a condition that no one can imagine a human being can face.”
The brief filed on Parlak’s behalf Tuesday reiterates his argument that he’s been a model immigrant and business owner in Harbert for the past 30 years.
“My family is here, my friends are here, my business is here, my home is here, everything I have is here. Who is going to benefit from me being thrown in front of who knows whom, who is going to kill me?”
Homeland Security argued in its appeal of the 2018 ruling that Parlak would not be in danger if sent back to Turkey. Parlak says recent developments in that country show the department is mistaken, especially given his outspoken nature.
“The government itself, in their brief, clearly says that I’ve been peacefully living in the United States for the last 30 years. So if that’s the case, what is the purpose? What is the purpose of throwing me in front of a lion who can just pick me apart?”
What happens now is Parlak has to wait for a decision from the Board of Immigration Appeals. That could take a year. If the board sides with Parlak, then Homeland Security would have to decide if it wants to appeal again, in which case the matter could wind up before a federal court. A statement from Congressman Fred Upton was read at Wednesday’s press conference in which Upton called Parlak a “well-respected and revered pillar of the community.” Upton promised to “continue to seek out ways to assist Ibrahim and do all we can to fight the injustice.”
Pictured: Ibrahim Parlak (center) with spokesperson Martin Dzuris (left), and Michael Ryan, the district director for Congressman Fred Upton (right).
