The brother of a Michiana restaurant owner involved in a deportation battle has lost his own fight to return to the United States.
Last Friday, a federal appeals court turned down Huseyin Parlak's appeal.
Ibrahim Parlak's glory days were enjoying life with his business partner -- his younger brother Huseyin -- in a free country.
He says, "That was the hardest part for me, to let him know what's happening."
Ibrahim also had to let customers know what's happening. The smiling face they've been waiting a long time to see at Cafe Gulistan, won't be greeting them again.
Ibrahim took the news well, Huseyin says. He's been waiting for a decision in Turkey for almost 16 months. Now, the waiting, wondering, and worrying are over for the Parlaks and their community supporters, at least in Huseyin's case.
"It's over. Now, you can live your life, and before so many times when I discussed with him he was in limbo. He's working, he's in good health, and he's with people who love him," says Ibrahim.
Huseyin came to the United States in 1998 on a student visa, and was deported in May 2007. Ibrahim still questions why.
He says, "When he didn't want to be a student anymore, he went to them and said, 'I want to stay, but not as a student -- as a political refugee.'"
When asked if he thought he would be able to stay, Ibrahim answered, "Yeah. That's the hope. That's what's keeping us going. From here on, if the panel makes a decision a way I don't want it to, what can I say. I made my case."
From a jail cell to several court rooms, Ibrahim admits he's been through a lot in this fight.
He has been waiting about ten months for a decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Ibrahim says that even if he hears the decision he doesn't want, the fight isn't over. He has strong support from legislators. Congressman Fred Upton and Senator Carl Levin have proposed bills to block Parlak from being deported.
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