Why We Should Care About Ibrahim Parlak

I've been trying to keep up-to-date on a neighbor of mine. I've never met Ibrahim. I've driven by his restaurant many times on Red Arrow Highway, but haven't stopped in yet.

Ibrahim Parlak is the proprietor of the Cafe Gulistan, a favorite of movie critic Roger Ebert. Senator Levin and Congressman Upton have legislation pending which will allow Ibrahim to adjust his status "to that of an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence". Both have said that Ibrahim is a model citizen. I don't think either of them would put their political necks on the line if they weren't reasonably sure of the issues.

Lou Mumford of the South Bend Tribune wrote a series of articles last month that detailed the plight of Ibrahim. Ibrahim came to this country in 1991. He was given assylum by the United States because of his mistreatment in Turkish jails. Ibrahim was a member of the PKK and was involved in a border skirmish in which Turkish border guards were killed. Ibrahim was jailed in Turkey for 17 months on the charges of separatism.

At that time we did not recognize the PKK as a terrorist orgainization. Just the opposite. Depending on your point of view, you could say that they were patriots looking to create a homeland for Kurds. There was a very detailed article written by the New York Times Magazine two years ago.

There was a hearing on October 22 where Ibrahim could present arguments for his stay. I don't know what happened there. I do know that last May, Ibrahim's brother Huseyin was deported so fast there wasn't time to pack a suitcase. In Mumford's reporting of Huseyin's story on 5/16/07:

Martin Dzuris, a spokesman for Ibrahim Parlak, said that when Huseyin Parlak kept a long-standing appointment Monday with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials in Detroit, he was immediately taken into custody and was put on a plane for Turkey in a matter of a few hours.

That gives me chills.


So far, trolling the web, only Debbie Scheussel has written negatively about Ibrahim. Her article makes Ibrahim sound like Rambo.


Ibrahim's story hits close to home. My grandfather was drafted in WWI at the age of 13 in Germany. He held a gun and was sent to the Russian front. I don't know if shot anyone or threw a grenade. He came to this country a few years later because his country was a wreck after many years of war. My grandfather also went into the restaurant business and had children. He wanted to start a new life and become a good American citizen.

Like Ibrahim's trouble starting after 9/11/2001, my grandfather's problems started about 12/7/1941--"a day that will live in infamy". The country was in panic after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japanese, Italian and German aliens were sent to internment camps. My grandfather had applied for citizenship before the outbreak of WWII. During the war, he was detained and his application put on hold, until 1945. My grandmother, who was born in Wisconsin, did the best she could to keep the restaurant afloat during the war years.

What we're seeing is typical fear behavior. The Patriot Act was passed as a response to this paranoia. When we detain and deport foreigners who want to become good American citizens, we need to ask why.