HARBERT (WKZO-AM) — Ibrahim Parlak has been fighting deportation for years, and it looked like he was losing the battle earlier this year.
Now, it appears he has won another reprieve.
He came to the U.S. as a political dissident from Turkey in 1990 when he convinced U.S. immigration officials that his life was at risk if he returned to his homeland. He had been jailed and tortured in Turkey.
Immigration officials began efforts to deport him a few years ago when politics changed in Turkey, but they have dramatically changed again. Parlak said his life would be in danger if he was deported now because of a recent coup in Turkey and the current regime’s reaction to that attempted overthrow.
They are arresting, detaining and executing their enemies.
The popular restaurant owner has been granted another chance to make his case to the U.S. Immigration Board, which now believes that he might not be safe if he was sent back.
