Feb. 11--The support for Ibrahim Parlak, a Harbert, Mich., restaurant owner and Turkish immigrant fighting deportation, continues to grow.
Jeff Tweedy, frontman for Chicago rock band Wilco, will perform a solo benefit concert for Parlak on Feb. 26 at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Mich.
"He's my neighbor, and I know he would do the same for me ... if I was being persecuted by out of touch and vindictive bureaucrats," Tweedy said in a statement.
The proceeds from the concert will be used to cover some of Parlak's legal fees. The case cost him $20,000 in December and January alone.
"It is a great feeling, you know," Parlak said. "First of all, Jeff doing something like that -- there's no words to describe it, how it makes you feel. The other thing is, as a local business and community member, the Acorn hosting something like that is a great thing. It shows how strong our community is and also, when I say America is the country I fell in love with, this is what I mean."
Acorn Theater Executive Director Sandra Thompson said she and other theater employees were kicking around the idea of a big name who could bring money and exposure to Parlak's case when Tweedy, who owns a nearby home and had been to Parlak's restaurant, Cafe Gulistan, came to mind.
"It was awesome that he accepted," she said.
Parlak, a Kurd and former activist who fled Turkey in 1991 after torture and months of imprisonment, has been facing deportation since the Department of Homeland Security charged him in 2004 with lying on his green card application. On Dec. 24, Homeland Security extended his deferral of deportation for 90 days. But Parlak, whose deferral runs out in March, fears his life would be endangered if he is sent back.
Michele Gazzolo, mother of Parlak's daughter, said she is touched by Tweedy's generosity.
"Our community of supporters keeps expanding," she said.
Tickets will be available on the Acorn Theater website at 11 a.m. Friday.
The announcement comes less than a month after Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., signed a joint statement with Parlak at his restaurant, urging Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., chairman of the Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security, to advance a bill to the House requesting a report on Parlak's immigration status from Homeland Security that would keep him in the country for the duration of this Congress.
In addition to Upton, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Michigan Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow have sent letters asking Jeh Johnson, Homeland Security secretary, not to oppose the motion to reopen his immigration case.
mmccall@tribpub.com
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