(WSBT) Two Michigan lawmakers want to give a Berrien County restaurant owner a second chance to become a permanent U.S. resident. Ibrahim Parlak's neighbors in Harbert have been behind him since the Homeland Security department began proceedings to ship the 44-year-old back to his native Turkey.

Wednesday, Michigan Congressman Fred Upton and Senator Carl Levin began pushing back.

When Parlak arrived in the United States in 1991, he knew he'd found what he'd been searching for.

"Different life, different world!"

Like many young Kurdish refugees, his past life couldn't be more different. An outspoken teen from southern Turkey, he was involved with the Kurdistan Workers Party and suddenly found himself in an armed standoff at the Turkish border and thrown in jail.

Three years later, fearing for his life, he applied for asylum in the U.S. -- a request that was granted almost immediately.

But in 1999, the federal government re-opened Parlak's case, claiming he failed to disclose all the details about that arrest on the Turkish border.

And in 2004:

"Next thing I know, handcuffs put on my hands. Why? After all those years they knew who I was!" he said.

After 10 months behind bars, Parlak was released. But his deportation proceedings continued and he remained at risk of being shipped away from his business, his home and his daughter.

That is until Congressman Fred Upton and Senator Carl Levin stepped in.

"This bill stops any deportation from proceeding. It's kind of a stay if you will until the legislation is voted on. And it also allows his legal case to move forward," Upton said.

"It represents the real America I try to be a part of," Parlak said.

The reality is Parlak is still far from putting "that madness" to rest for good.

This new bill would make him a "permanent resident," but it still needs the approval of both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, and that might not come for months.

In the meantime, Parlak is set to appear before a federal judge early this spring where he'll plead his case for a chance to become a legal U.S. citizen.