[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6658-6659]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent there now be a period of 
morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes 
each.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                             Ibrahim Parlak

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President: I would like to bring my colleagues' 
attention to a situation facing one of my constituents, Ibrahim Parlak, 
who, up until a year ago, was living the American dream. After moving 
to this country in 1991, through hard work and dedication, he worked 
his way up from being a busboy to owning his own restaurant, Cafe; 
Gulistan, in Harbert, MI. Mr. Parlak has spent over a decade of hard, 
honest work and has led an upstanding life with his family and 
community. However, now, he may be deported.
  Ibrahim Parlak, a Kurd born in southern Turkey, came to the United 
States seeking asylum in 1991. In his asylum application, Mr. Parlak 
disclosed that he had been associated with the Kurdistan Worker's Party 
(PKK) in the 1980s, that he was involved in an armed skirmish at the 
Turkish border in 1988, and that he had been imprisoned in Turkey as a 
result of these facts. In 1992, Mr. Parlak was granted asylum due to 
the persecution and torture that he suffered at the hands of the 
Turkish government. The Immigration and Naturalization Service believed 
that Mr. Parlak had a credible fear of returning to Turkey.
  In 1993, Mr. Parlak wanted to take the next step and become a United 
States citizen. However, when he filled out his application to become a 
lawful permanent resident, he did not check a box stating that he had 
been ``arrested, cited, charged, indicted, fined or imprisoned for 
violating any law or ordinance, excluding traffic violations,'' in or 
outside of the United States. Mr. Parlak has stated that due to his 
limited English skills, he misunderstood the form, and believed that 
the question related only to his activities since he entered the United 
States. Again, Mr. Parlak had already given the Government the 
information surrounding his 1988 arrest and conviction in his earlier 
asylum application. He had also provided documents at the time of his 
asylum, in Turkish, that described the Turkish government's view of his 
association with the PKK.

[[Page 6659]]

  Last July, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detained Mr. 
Parlak and DHS is now moving to deport Mr. Parlak, claiming a 
deliberate misrepresentation of facts. Further, the Department of 
Homeland Security states that Mr. Parlak has been convicted of an 
aggravated felony after admission to the United States because, in 
2004, the now-disbanded Turkish Security Court reopened his case from 
1990 and re-sentenced him for the crime of Kurdish separatism. The 
``new'' sentence imposed by the Security Court required less jail time 
than Mr. Parlak had already served, and the Security Court closed its 
file on Mr. Parlak. Turkey does not seek his extradition and has, in 
fact, no interest in his return and will not issue a special passport 
for that purpose.
  Despite his strong ties to his community and the lack of evidence 
that he is a flight risk, Mr. Parlak continues to be held in prison 
without bond. The Department of Homeland Security says that Mr. Parlak 
is a ``terrorist,'' and therefore cannot be released. This 
``terrorist'' designation is based solely on Mr. Parlak's association 
with the PKK in the 1980s. However, not only did Mr. Parlak outline his 
involvement with the PKK in his asylum application, at the time Mr. 
Parlak was associated with the PKK, it was not designated as a 
terrorist organization. The State Department did not add the PKK to its 
list of terrorist organizations until 1996.
  I am concerned with the fact that the government continues to detain 
and is attempting to deport this model immigrant over activities he 
disclosed in his application for asylum, an application which, again, 
was granted. While it may be disputed why the box was not checked 
accurately, it is incongruous to conclude that he was intentionally 
hiding those facts from the Department of Justice in 1993, when he 
detailed them explicitly to the Department of Justice in 1991.
  Mr. President, Mr. Parlak is a good man and should be given the 
chance to remain in the United States and continue the life that he has 
built for his community, his daughter and himself all these years. Our 
history is built upon the courage and hard work of immigrants who 
opposed brutal oppression and fled to our country seeking a new life. 
Ibrahim Parlak is one of them.

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