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At
last, a moment of clarity in an atmosphere otherwise
charged with fear and suspicion directed at
immigrants.
On Friday, the U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn
ordered Ibrahim Parlak, the southwestern Michigan
restaurateur whom federal authorities are attempting
to deport to Turkey, released from prison pending
his appeal of a deportation order.
"He has been a model immigrant vigorously asserting
his right to remain in the United States. He is not
a threat to anyone nor a risk of flight," the judge
wrote and the Associated Press reported. "Under
these circumstances, there is simply no good reason
to deny him his freedom pending completion of the
removal proceedings."
Parlak, who has spent 10 months in jail as federal
immigration authorities sought a court order for his
deportation, is not out yet. Execution of the
judge's order will be postponed for 10 days to give
the government time to appeal.
Cohn's description of Parlak as "a model immigrant"
runs counter to the claims of federal attorneys who
have described him as "the complete terrorist
package."
The judge accurately assessed that the appeal would
be complex and time-consuming and imprisoning him
for the entire length of the appeal would mean he
would be incarcerated for an unreasonable period.
And, considering that Parlak's objective is to stay
in the United States, he is at low risk to flee.
Parlak's case is extraordinarily complicated. While
in Turkey, he belonged to a violent Kurdish
separatist organization, the Kurdistan Workers
Party, or PKK. He was imprisoned in Turkey for his
involvement in a firefight in which Turkish soldiers
were killed. Parlak was released after he informed
on the PKK to the Turkish government.
After Parlak applied for citizenship here,
immigration authorities said he had omitted
information about his background when he first
entered the United States in 1991. The PKK was not
considered by the U.S. government to be a terrorist
organization then.
But after the PKK was reclassified as terrorist by
the U.S. State Department in 1997, Parlak became a
retroactive terrorist.
The tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, made it clear
that a few immigrants, living and working quietly
among us, were terrorists and intended to kill
Americans if they were not stopped.
Unfortunately, in the federal government's zeal to
make certain another 9-11 would not be visited upon
the United States, the war on terror turned into a
war on immigrants.
A local police officer who knows Parlak has been
quoted as saying: "There's a big difference between
law and justice. The law says some things can be
done, and justice is what's the right thing to do. I
think, in this situation, the law may say we can
deport him, but I don't think it's justice."
Let us hope Parlak finds justice in the federal
courts.
Another sensible development
Two weeks ago in this space we wondered why someone
like Ibrahim Parlak would languish in jail while
Luis Posada Carriles, a Venezuelan who is a chief
suspect in the bombing of a Cuban airliner in which
73 people died, was at large in Florida.
Last week, Posada was arrested and has been charged
with illegal entry. While Posada is seeking asylum,
the Venezuelan government is seeking his extradition
for trial on the bombing.
No word on whether Posada will be deported or, if
so, where.
www.mlive.com
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