BERRIEN COUNTY (WKZO-AM) — A southwest Michigan restaurateur who has been fighting deportation for years fears he may be a sitting duck for immigration officers during the holidays.
An agreement allowing Ibrahim Parlak to stay in the United States expires on Christmas Eve, and his friends fear that it may have been a government ploy to leave him vulnerable at a time when it would be difficult to muster the support he needs to stay in the country.
Parlak was granted asylum as a political refugee from Turkey. Now, the very politics that earned him that status have shifted against him because of changing middle eastern politics.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton is still in his corner, but Sen. Carl Levin has retired. Neither Sens. Debbie Stabenow nor Gary Peters have taken his place on the issue.
– John McNeill
