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US:
Levin, Upton seek to give immigrant Kurd permanent residency -
Ibrahim Parlak Case |
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US: Levin, Upton seek to give immigrant
Kurd permanent residency - Ibrahim Parlak Case
18.1.2007 |
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Michigan congressmen try to block deportation of
Kurdish immigrant linked to militant group
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan, January 17, -- Two
members of Congress reintroduced bills in the Senate
and House on Wednesday that would give permanent
U.S. residency to a Kurdish immigrant living in
southwestern Michigan whom the federal government
wants expelled from the country.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is trying
to deport Harbert restaurateur Ibrahim Parlak, 44,
who was granted asylum in 1992, on terrorism charges
because of previous ties to the Kurdistan Workers'
Party, or PKK, in Turkey. The U.S. Department of
State classified PKK as a terrorist group in 1997.
Homeland Security officials say Parlak never
disclosed critical details about his separatist
activities in his original asylum application and
omitted his conviction in Turkey from subsequent
immigration forms.
But U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and U.S. Rep.
Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, issued a joint statement
saying Parlak disclosed his past association with
the PKK in great detail and ``has been a model
immigrant and local business owner for many years.''
``It just shows that our congressman and our senator
are dedicated to doing the right thing here and they
are in for the long fight,'' said Martin Dzuris,
speaking on behalf of his friend Parlak.
The lawmakers introduced similar bills in December
2005.
A telephone message seeking comment was left
Wednesday at the Detroit office of Homeland
Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Attorneys for Parlak have noted that the Turkish
security court system that convicted him since has
been abolished because of international pressure.
Human rights groups say the courts relied on
confessions extracted by torture.
Parlak has said he never was involved in violence.
In November 2005, he lost an appeal to his
deportation order with the U.S. Department of
Justice's Board of Immigration Appeals.
He was freed on bond after spending 10 months in the
Calhoun County jail during 2004 and 2005. In August
of last year, his lawyers filed a petition for
review of the board's ruling with the 6th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals, which is expected to take
up the matter later this year.
AP
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