Dead in a gas station dispute over loud music in 2012. Plus, we will host a debate between gun owners of america and the American Constitution Society for law and policy on obamas executive order. Then will the United States deport a kurdish activist to turkey where he was once imprisoned and tortured . My daddy can to this country to be free. Nightmare. Is been a amy 25 years ago, Ibrahim Parlak came to the United States fleeing persecution in turkey. Now he is fighting to block the u. S. From sending him back. He and his daughter will join us from chicago. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. North korea says it has successfully detonated its First Hydrogen bomb. If confirmed, the test marks a major increase in north Koreas Nuclear capacity. The north korean staterun tv network announced the test after seismologists detected a 5. 1 magnitude tremor near the countrys main nuclear test site. Washe first hbomb test conducted. We will not give up a Nuclear Program as long as the United States maintains its stance of aggression. Amy north koreas announcement has not been independently verified and experts have voiced skepticism about whether north korea is capable of producing a hydrogen bomb. South korea called the announcement a grave provocation to our national security, while japan condemned it as a major threat to regional and International Peace and stability. Speaking in tokyo today, u. S. Ambassador to japan Caroline Kennedy said the United States stands with japan. We stand with japan, our partners and allies in solidarity with this provocation and we will work closely together in the coming days. Amy Hydrogen Bombs can be hundreds or even thousands of times more powerful than the atomic bomb the United States dropped on the japanese cities of hiroshima and nagasaki in 1945, the first and only use of Nuclear Weapons in war. President obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt occur gun violence in the United States. Part of his kind will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration has also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nations gun laws and 500 million to increase access to Mental Health care. On tuesday, president obama spoke at the white house surrounded by family members of People Killed in shootings. It was one of the most emotional speeches of his presidency. He wiped back tears as he remembered firstgraders killed at the san Hook Elementary School in newtown, connecticut. Every time i think about those kids, he gets me mad. And, by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago every day. Amy we will have more on president obamas speech after the headlines. In iran, a top military commander has condemned sunday storming of the Saudi Embassy in tehran calling it an ugly, unjustifiable act. He made remarks after protesters angered by saudi arabias execution of a shiite cleric set fire to a part of the Saudi Embassy. The burning prompted saudi arabia, bahrain, sudan to break ties with iran while the United Arab Emirates downgraded relations with the rent and kuwait recalled its ambassador. Tuesdayl president said saudi arabia could not hide its shiite of executing cleric by cutting ties with tehran. A spokesperson for the u. S. Led Coalition Fighting the selfproclaimed Islamic State says the militants have lost 30 of the territory they held in iraq and syria. U. S. Army colonel made the announcement tuesday. We believe in a rat, it is about 40 . In syria, harder to get a good number, we think hundred 20 and altogether, around 30 , we believe. Taken together iraq and syria. Amy in afghanistan, a u. S. Soldier has been killed and two others wounded during a special forces operation in the Southern Province of helmand. The pentagon says u. S. Forces came under fire in the town of marjah. A u. S. Helicopter reportedly crashed at the scene during a rescue attempt. The Islamic State has reportedly murdered a journalist who wrote about life in the isiloccupied raqqa. Ruqia hassan was reportedly killed in september, but activists say isis hijacked her social media accounts and used them to claim she was alive. A member of the activist group raqqa is being slaughtered silently said before her death, hassan said im in raqqa and i received death threats, and when isis me arrests me and kills me its ok because. I have dignity its better than in humiliation with isis. She was 30 years old. In turkey, Iraqi Kurdish journalist mohammad rasool, who worked for vice news, has been released after 131 days in prison. Rasool was accused of assisting a terrorist organization. He was arrested in august in southeastern turkey, where the turkish government has imposed curfews as part of a wideranging crackdown. Human Rights Groups have recorded well over 100 civilian deaths in the area. A report by the committee to project journalists last month called turkey the fifth worst jailer of journalists in the world. In venezuela, rightwing opposition lawmakers have taken control of congress for the first time in 17 years. The opposition won 99 out of 167 seats in elections last month. The new legislature sets up a challenge for president Nicolas Maduro as he seeks to continue the socialist revolution that was launched by the late hugo chavez. Democratic president ial candidate and vermont senator Bernie Sanders has taken aim at wall street in his latest address. Speaking here in new york, sanders vowed to break up the biggest banks within a year of taking office. Greed is not good. [applause] in fact, the greed of wall street and Corporate America is destroying the very fabric of our nation. [applause] and here is a new years resolution that i will keep is elected president , and that is if wall street does not end its greed, we will end it for them. Amy some of the first families set for deportation under the obama administrations recent raids have won a key victory after a top Immigration Appeals Court halted their deportations. In what advocates dubbed carseat raids, agents rounded up at least 121 people over the weekend, targeting Central American families who have recently fled violence in their home countries. Activists say five of the families were able to win a halt to their deportation after citing due process violations. The order came just hours before they were set to be deported to el salvador, which now has the highest murder rate in the world for a country not at war. A Broad Coalition of doctors, experts, lawmakers and organizations have petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn a texas antichoice law that could shutter all but a handful of abortion clinics in the state. Those who filed briefs opposing the law include medical professionals, religious groups, the obama administration, and more than 160 members of congress. A coalition of cities and municipalities including new your, baltimore, boston, dayton, ohio, and San Francisco have also filed a brief against the texas law, saying if it goes into full effect, cities and states without harsh abortion restrictions will see a surge in patients needing care. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on the case in march. In the latest news to shake the administration of chicago mayor rahm emanuel, a federal judge has ruled a Top Administration lawyer intentionally hid key evidence about a fatal police shooting, then lied about it. The judges ruling reversed an earlier decision in favor of two Chicago Police officers that concluded they were justified in killing africanamerican darius pinex during a traffic stop five years ago. The officers claimed they pulled pinex over because his car matched a description they heard over their radios about a car wanted in connection with a shooting. On monday, a judge ruled senior chicago attorney jordan marsh intentionally withheld a recording of the radio dispatch showing the car did not actually match the description, then lied about his reasons for doing so. Marsh resigned hours after the ruling. This all comes as chicago mayor rahm emanuel faces calls to resign over a potential coverup of the Police Killing of Laquan Mcdonald and of a grandmother and college student, bettie jones and quintonio legrier. Illinois state lawmakers are now considering steps to potentially allow a recall of mayor emanuel. Snyder, governor federal officials announced their investigating the issue of the water. Governor snyder apologized last week for the states handling of the water crisis in flint, where residents have reported a spate of health problems, from rashes and hair loss to memory loss. The contamination began after an emergency manager appointed by Governor Snyder switched the citys water source to the longpolluted flint river in a bid to save money. In august, Governor Snyder helped deliver 1500 water filters to flint even as state officials assured people the water was safe. And an estimated 35,000 dairy cows have been found dead after a rare blizzard hit west texas and eastern new mexico late last month. The storm left snow drifts up to 14 feet high, burying many cows alive, while others froze to death or starved. An estimated 10 of adult dairy herd in west texas perished. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. President obama has laid out his plans to take executive action in an attempt to cut gun violence. Part of his plan will result in mandatory background checks for individuals purchasing firearms online or at gun shows. The administration is also calling for the hiring of 200 new federal agents to enforce the nations gun laws and 500 million to increase access to Mental Health care. On tuesday, president obama spoke at the white house surrounded by family members of People Killed in shootings. It was one of the most emotional speeches of president obamas presidency. At times he was wiping back tears as he remembered children killed by gun violence. All of us should be able to Work Together to find a balance the rest of our. Ights are also important Second Amendment rights are important, but there other rights we care about as well, and we have to be able to balance them. Because our right to worship freely and safely, that right was denied to christians in charleston, south carolina. And that was denied jews in kansas city and denied muslims in nopel hill s andikhs creek. They had rights, too. [applause] our right to peaceful assembly, that right was robbed from moviegoers in aurora and lafayette. Our unalienable right to life and liberty and pursuit of happiness was stripped from college kids in Santa Barbara and from High Schoolers at. Olumbine and from firstgraders in newtown. Firstgraders. Family who never imagined their loved one would be taken from our lives by a. Ullet from a gun every time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. And by the way, it happens on the streets of chicago every day. [applause] amy president obama speaking on tuesday at the white house. He was surrounded by family members of People Killed in shootings, including lucia mcbath, who joins us now from washington. She is the mother of jordan davis, the 17yearold who was shot dead in 2012 in florida at a gas station by man named michael dunn who confronted davis and his friends about the volume of their car stereo. Lucia mcbath has since become a leading gun control advocate. Welcome back to democracy now you were front and Center Standing right behind president obama as he spoke yesterday. Talk about the significance of what he has done. Well, yesterday was a very profound day toward the movement of gun violence prevention in this country. And specifically speaking as a victim of gun violence, standing on that platform with president obama and all the other victims, it was just an amazing day for us specifically, because we have been on the front lines. We have been fighting this fight for some time, and it is been very disheartening time and again to watch our legislators not be beholden to the constituents that have placed them in office, but to be a holden to the gun lobby. And for the first time now, we andsome concerted effort change in keeping our communities and our families and futures safe. So yesterday was the right move, the right step, and were definitely going in the right direction. Amy do you think these executive orders what have saved jordans life, your son . Know, i dont believe so because in my case, michael dunn had purchased his guns legally. That was not an issue. For us, it would be more so dealing with the standard ground laws and the application of those laws around the country. But definitely, the executive orders that are being put in place by president obama are a tremendous start toward making sure, you know, gun sellers in this country are accountable for the guns there selling, who they are selling them to, making sure they are licensed, making sure they are instituting background checks on any guns they are selling to individuals. We have to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. As president obama said yesterday, he is going to make sure we spend more time and effort in managing those individuals that need help with Mental Illness, keeping guns out of their hands, and just also, the huge proliferation in trafficking of guns in this country, these are very, very. Rofound steps he is moving in the right direction. If our legislators have not been accountable to keeping our communities safe, they have turned their backs on the american community, then if he has to take executive orders to keep us safe, then we applaud him for doing so. This storymcbath, about your son jordan daviss death was turned into a film last year called three and a half minutes, 10 bullets. I want to play the films trailer. 45yearold michael dunn is being charged with shooting and killing 17yearold jordan davis. The confrontation began over loud music. Was their music playing in the car . Yes. Did the defendant say anything about the music . I hate that thug music. Im not racist, they are racist. Michael dunn is claiming selfdefense. Jordan davis threatened michael dunn. I look and im looking at a barrel. This is about the right for everyone to protect themselves, protect their family. Youre not going to kill me, you son of a could it have in your imagination . No. I mean, anything is possible, i guess. Maybe they didnt have a gun, but he thought they had a gun. They think it is a gun when it is in the hands of a young africanamerican. Trayvon martins father text me, i just want to welcome you into a club that none of us want to be in. Its time to pick up where dr. King left off. Ive never covered a trial with this much international attention. This was the 21st century lynching. Jordan . Happened to what happened to jordan . The trailer for three and a half minutes, 10 bullets. Listen toth, as you that and stood behind president obama, what do you think now has to happen in this country . Well, as we know, this was just a giant leap for it, but theres so many parts and pieces to the gun coulter and the gun problems we have in this country. Theres a lot more that has to be addressed, but what we want to make sure that we begin doing, definitely background check legislation in place for all gun sales in this country is definitely a deterrent. Were not going to be up to take all the guns off the street. And most of kelly, president infringenot trying to upon anyones Second Amendment rights. He wants to make sure he tempers and balances with those rights commonsense measures in our gun laws to protect us basically from ourselves. There a lot of moving pieces and parts. This is going to be a long battle and process. Ands a Culture Shift change. As president obama said yesterday, it takes a long time. Moving forward, we begin with what we know we can do now background check legislation, making sure gun dealers and sellers are fully licensed, making sure we give more help to those individuals in this country who are mentally ill so theyre not getting their hands on guns, keeping guns out of the hands of convicted criminals, you know, beginning to see a drop in some of the gun trafficking illegal gun trafficking, and as he also said, beginning to spend more time and effort the department of Homeland Security and department of justice, you know, spending more time and effort on research for gun safety technology. These are all beginning measures, but theres so much more that has to be done and it is going to take years to really stem this tide of gun culture in the country. And you want to turn to a clip of you testifying, lucia mcbath, the firstever Senate Hearing on stand your ground laws. This was back in october, october 20 9, 2013. I was raised in a family steeped in justice and confident in the triumphant goodness of humanity. My mother was a registered nurse and my father, who served in the u. S. Army dental corps, was also for over 20 years president of the naacp for the state of illinois. He worked actively with president Lyndon Johnson in the signing of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. If you could see me here today testifying in front of the United States senate, he would be beaming with pride and amazed at how far his daughter had come until he can understand what brought me here. Amy you testifying in the first ever Senate Hearing on stand your ground, how does stand your ground fit into this story . Well, stand your ground is just one of the laws that we will definitely have to begin to amend in the country. Because statistics are showing that, you know, so many more people in this country are dying under what is deemed justifiable homicide under these laws. And so those are definitely going to have to be addressed. We know in the states where there have been background check legislation put in place and other measures, we know these justifiable homicides have dropped. , youose are definitely know, that is the course of action we have to continue to look forward to. As i said earlier, peace by peace, bit by bit, there are so many moving parts and pieces to the gun culture and it is just a matter of identifying what we can do best first and then begin to move on the other measures of changing the gun laws in our country. Working your father, with dr. Martin luther king, who was assassinated, gun violence in 1968, even after that, even after president Robert Kennedy was assassinated a few months later, president johnson could barely get past the kind of gun control he wanted to. He was awarded by the gun lobby in the United States. Thwarted by the gun lobby in the United States. What you say to the nra . The nra is not the nra of 20 to 30 years ago. 90 of the cardcarrying members of the nra agree with us, that there has to be some common sense measures put in place to keep our people from dying in the streets such as they are. So if it is the nra leadership that is pushing this fear mongering and the kind of extremist agenda, then we need to expose that. The american citizen state understand and know what is happening and it is not necessarily all of the nra members because most of them are law abiding gun owners. They are lawabiding hunters, lawabiding enthusiast gun enthusiasts, and those are not the ones were going after. But we need to make sure we are exposing what is happening with the nra gun lobby. Most people i talk to around the country say they feel helpless and hopeless. They dont know what to do. As much as i know to do is that we give people the information they need, we are doing a policy research, we are doing the work bringing to light what is truly happening in this country, and we will continue to do so. Amy i want to thank you, lucia mcbath, for joining us, mother of jordan davis, the 17yearold killed in 2012 in florida in a gas station parking lot, killed by a man who did not like the fact that jordan and his friends were in their car playing loud music. Lucia mcbath is now leading gun control advocate, especially in the evangelical committed he. When we come back, a debate on gun control. Stay with us. [music break] amy this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As president obama announced plans to use executive actions to strengthen gun control regulations, he condemned congress for blocking efforts to reduce gun violence. To ann it comes inherently Deadly Weapon nobody argues that guns are weapons deadly that kill tens of thousands of americans every year, congress voted to make it harder for Public Health experts to conduct research into gun violence. Datait harder to collect and facts and develop strategies to reduce gun violence. Even after san bernardino, they refuse to make it harder for terrorist suspects who cant get on an airplane to buy semi automatic weapons. Thats not right. [laughter] right. Nt be lobby may be holding congas hostage right now, but they cannot hold america hostage. We do not have to accept this carnage. Amy we turn now to a debate on president obamas plan to take executive action to reduce gun violence. We are joined by two guests in john velleco is director of washington, d. C. John velleco is director of federal affairs for , gun owners of america. And caroline fredrickson, president of the American Constitution Society for law and policy. Caroline fredrickson, can you lay out exactly what these executive actions are . The president is basically doing what he is required to do under the constitution, which is to faithfully execute the laws. The Supreme Court has laid out there are quite a number of regulations consistent with the Second Amendment. Congress has passed laws requiring licensing and background checks. And what president obama has done is move to clarify the law about who is subject to a background check, and make sure we have the resources to enforce those background checks so that people who have been barred from buying a gun by congress, dangerous people who are dangerous felons or have a Mental Illness that makes them in confident to have a gun or those were violent domestic abusers. And what president obama has done is moved to clarify the law to make sure those people are actually really not getting guns and make sure there is some enforcement behind the laws that congress has duly passed and understood by the Supreme Court to be consistent with the Second Amendment. Amy john velleco, how do you feel about president obamas announcement yesterday . Well, the president is redefining the law, really changing the law because congress has been very clear on things such as what constitutes a federally licensed gun dealer. So in changing the law, he is taking on the role of the legislative branch and he is reinterpreting laws and taking on the role of the judicial branch. So he is not operating president obama is really in full Community Activist mode now and trying to do what he can to get around the congress and really summing his nose at the will and wisdom of the american people, which is represented through their elected officials in washington, which the congress has not once or try twice but on many occasions voted on and voted down proposals such as the president is trying to push, such as universal background checks and closing the socalled gun show loophole. Amy caroline fredrickson, what howfeel is wrong with the respond, should say, to john velleco saying he is defined congress . We worked with a group of constitutional law experts who have laid out very clearly that within the understanding of the constitution and the president s executive authority, he is clearly empowered to do what he needs to do to make sure our laws are enforced. In essence, what it comes down to is, the question of who is in the business of selling firearms . I think we all have to take a step back and think about that. What the president is basically saying, in the 21st century when so much commerce goes on over the internet and we recognize that a crime that would exist, for example, selling child per locker fee, if you sell it at a newsstand, that is legal, if you sell it over the internet, it is still illegal. What is essentially happening is the president has acknowledged the internet exists and it exists for firearms sales. How many people are buying books and clothes and all sorts of things over the internet and they know theyre buying those things because it is on the internet does not make it somehow outside of commerce. It is fully in commerce. The 21sto move into century when it comes to guns house and make sure we dont have is a norm us loophole that large sellers of firearms for getting around a really significant, important background checks because i think all of us, and as lucia who was so very articulate and compelling before, mentioned 90 of nra cardcarrying members agreed background checks are fully consistent with the Second Amendment and should be enforced. Lets just be realistic and commonsensical and make sure the 21st century sees 21st Century Technologies governed by the same laws that have governed brickandmortar commerce prior to this moment. Amy john velleco, do you think the sale of guns at should be limited in any way . What the president is doing is he is redefining what a gun dealer is commencing a private individual who can sell as you should betwo guns, classified as a federally licensed Firearms Dealer which means you are getting a license with subject to , payingons by the batf fees. For people theres no number on it. This is very dangerous for private individuals who want to sell a part of the collection or they just want to engage in private transactions. In the penalties are very severe. Theres a five year prison penalty and a 250,000 fine. What the president is doing is, even though the congress has already said no to the universal background check system in making the federal government so much more involved in private transactions, he is going around that and really threatening private individuals who want to sell from their own collection coming you know, with imprisonment and huge fines. He is going about this the wrong way. Amy let me ask caroline fredrickson, on this issue of private gun sales, explain what the president is now going to enforce. Regime, the regulatory there are a number of criteria that go into the examination of whether someone is in the business of selling firearms. What this essentially does is says im offline, online, we should look at those condition of whether someone is engaged in the business of selling firearms and those people should be subject to the licensing requirements and doing background checks. Come on, we all want to be safe on the streets. We want to have the same requirements applied to gun sellers who meet those criteria again, whether they are selling out of a storefront or selling over the internet. Amy i want to turn to bill oreilly of fox news who talked about background checks last night on his show. On the other side, the nra and the gun owners should be reasonable. The fbi should background check anyone buying a firearm in america. That just makes sense. If you are paranoid and believes the governments stockpiling information so they can come to your house and take your guns, thats your problem. Your problem. But the government has an obligation to enhance public safety. Amy john velleco, can you respond . The government has an obligation to protect liberty. What bill oreilly is saying is the government power should be massively increased to be involved in private sales of a lawful product. We simply disagree with that. It would be unconstitutional. You have the Supreme Court has said you have the right to bear arms is a fundamental right. That means people cant just lose it without their do process of law. When you start regulating private transactions between individuals, that is exactly what is happening is people are losing their ability to engage in their Second Amendment rights. Amy caroline fredrickson, can you explain what gun trusts are . Sure, but first i just have to comment on the fact that bill oreilly and the gun owners of america are in a different place. I think that just reflects the nra and gun owners of america and those two organizations are so far outside of the mainstream, when weve got 90 plus percent of americans who support these commonsense restrictions on gun ownership i cant say i have ever theres been a great frequency in which i have agreed with the lower oreilly, but here i am 100 on his side. I think that reflects how isolated and extreme those opponents of these very simple and not very far reaching, which they themselves acknowledge these are not huge steps, fairly minor. Nonetheless, theyre going to oppose them. And with all of their forces. That is just a question for themselves, why they are opposing these very limited movements forward to make america a safer place. But a gun trust, it is a shell game that certain sellers set up. It is trying to get out from under the law and the requirements by setting up a trust that somehow it doesnt be the Legal Definition of who needs to get a license to sell. It is another loophole that needs to be closed down, and that is another area in which president obama has moved to make sure that the enforcement of laws actually reflects the spirit of the laws that were passed to make sure we keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Amy on tuesday, donald trump criticized president obamas plan. The Second Amendment is so important. They are trying [applause] theyre not going to take your guns away, folks. They are trying. Theyre talking about the bullets, talking about and as you see, president obama is on television. Amy and senator ted cruz come also president ial candidate, criticized obamas actions. This morning, president obama is announcing new executive orders to try to go after our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. While i can say right now, his executive orders are not worth the paper theyre printed on because when you live by the pen, you die by the pen. And my pen has an eraser. Amy john velleco, d. Phil. He knew president ial candidate represents her point of view adequately . Yes, i think many of them, in particular, ted cruz who understands once he gets in office, he can reverse these executive orders, and i would contend that these are not minor limited orders. These are very far reaching, and i think when people start to realize what is actually going on here with these orders, they are going to see that millions and millions of people who have not been convicted of any crime in any court of law are being denied their Second Amendment rights. In particularly, the president is directing the Social Security administration to provide names to the fbi of people who are beneficiaries who are determined to be unable to handle their affairs. So that means, potentially menu millions of Senior Citizens in urban collections that they have acquired over lifetimes could be in jeopardy through this action. That is not insignificant to allow the Social Security administration to prohibit people from owning guns through the fbi check. Amy caroline fredrickson, can you address john vellecos concern . I would say i was only parroting back the statement of the nra spokeswoman who said that these were no big deal. And so i think they are important steps. I think they are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. As lucia mentioned earlier, there are much more that can and should be done to ensure that americans are safer and that we have some reasonable than restrictions. Effortsottom these are quite justified and really omitted. But the fact of the matter is, congress has already prohibited people who are mentally severely mentally ill from owning a gun. And dont we all think that is actually a good idea . The fact of the matter is, we dont have a great enforcement mechanism. Theyre moving forward to try to address that, and that is what the executive order is all about. Amy i want to thank john velleco for joining us director , of federal affairs for gun owners of america. He is also the groups federal lobbyist. Caroline fredrickson, i would like you to stay on for one minute to address another issue, not guns, but the issue of the executive authority of the president. What power president obama can use. We are seeing hes using on the issue of gun control. Could he use this to close the guantanamo prison camp without congressional approval . 2009, one of his first exec a borders was for the closure of what time of a military prison. Seven years later, 1100 prisoners are still there. I think something that is important for people to remember is that president george w. Bush opened guantanamo on his own say so. Without congress to without any authorization, without any legislation to do so. Would call peoples attention there was a very important Washington Post opinion piece about a month or so ago by cliff sloan, the special envoy to, miller appointed by john kerry, secretary of state, and greg craig, the former white house counsel. They argued quite commits only the president is fully within his executive Authority Close autonomy without going through congress. Because of that very power that george w. Bush to open guantanamo, which is the commanderinchief power, which is in his purview to take significant actions to affect our national security. I think that is a very compelling argument. Obvious the, congress can use the power of the purse to try and limit that. But in terms of the president s basic authority, he certainly has that. Amy caroline fredrickson, thank you for being with us president , of the American Constitutional Society for law and policy. This is democracy now the worldow. Org, peace report. When we come back, we go to chicago to hear the story of a man who has lived in this country for a quarter of a century. He comes from turkey, was imprisoned and tortured there. Now the u. S. Is threatening to send him back. We will speak with him, his daughter, and his lawyer. Stay with us. [music break] amy Livia Gazzolo, the daughter of Ibrahim Parlak, who we will be talking about today. She was singing at a vigil for him a few years ago. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. As we turn to the case of michigan resident Ibrahim Parlak, who faces imminent deportation in an asylum case that stretches back close to a quarter of a century. Ibrahim parlak is a kurdish man who came to the United States in 1990 fleeing persecution in his native country of turkey, where hed been arrested and tortured for his affiliations with the political arm of the kurdistan workers party, a kurdish Independence Group better known as the pkk. Once parlak reached the United States, he was granted political asylum. A year later, he was granted permanent residence. But all this changed in the years following 2001, when the fbi began to review old asylum files. In the years after parlak arrived in the u. S. , the u. S. Government had designated the pkk a terrorist organization. And suddenly, this made parlak a terrorist, too. Although, he said he was never part of the pkk. In 2004, parlak was arrested and threatened with deportation. But much to the surprise of the department of Homeland Security, which had designated parlak a terrorist, the Community Around him in harbert, michigan, rose to his defense. People built websites, organized letterwriting campaigns, held vigils and made so much noise, that the agency released him. But now, his immigration case has suddenly come up again. The department of Homeland Security has once again threatened Ibrahim Parlak with deportation, and has ordered him to apply for residency to some other country. He fears hell be returned to turkey, where the increasing crackdown on kurdish communities has killed hundreds and displaced 200,000 from their homes. To talk more about the case, we go to chicago. Ibrahim parlak, his daughter livia, and their lawyer, Rob Carpenter are with us. We welcome you all to democracy now Ibrahim Parlak, lets begin with you. You have been here for 25 years. Why is this coming up now . Through the whole time, i to become aying citizen. I followed all of the procedures and took the exam and passed the when i was about to ,elebrate becoming a citizen something came up. They brought up that i had a withction in the past curtis kurdish organizations. I told him at that time, nothing is new and you should have known and all is in the file. Since then, it is become like in endless nightmare. After september 11, it became more difficult. It is been continuing since then. Had become myica second home. It is my country. Live. S where i that is where my family lives. That is where my community is. That is where my business is. So i have been fighting to stay. Amy let me turn to your lawyer, Rob Carpenter. Rob, if you can lay out for us the legal case, what happened, how he was approved by the u. S. Government to live here all these years and then what happened. Talk about the politics of the United States and turkey as well within that. I will be happy to. When Ibrahim Parlak arrived to flee the torture that he was subjected to by the turkish government, he was granted asylum and presented all of the relevant facts as to his affiliation with the political arm of the pkk, which was not a terrorist organization at that time. And the government willingly approved his asylum, then his permanent residence. Sometime later when he applied for nationalization to become a u. S. Citizen, the government revisited that application in light of the pkk having been designated a terrorist organization after the fact, and decided to try, i believe, to whiten a breath of the definition of terrorism and Material Support of a terrorist organization to encompass a retroactive application. And the courts upheld that reading of the law as frankly, absurd or principal as it is, and so after the removal case took place in after his appeals were exhausted, many people on both sides of the aisle politically came to his aid and pushed for him to receive what is called deferred action which would allow him to stay even if the other deportation order. And that is how he is remain from 2009 until 2015. The other reason why hes been able to remain with Work Authorization in the United States after that fact is because he is stateless. Turkey revoked his citizenship. There is nowhere were to send him to. What has changed now as a two weeks ago is we received word the government had, through back channels, acquired travel documents with the government of turkey to infect deport him to turkey even know he is in a citizen there and has no real legal way of returning there, now he does. That was a Game Changing piece of information. File,k a hard look at the and are certain he will be tortured if returned to turkey. In light of current events, it is indisputable he will be tortured if returned to turkey. So we filed a motion reopen the his claim under the convention against torture, which is a you and convention, the United States is a signatory to, reexamined by the board of immigration appeals in the underlying case reopened so that claim for relief can be just so the board of immigration appeals can take a look at it again. , whatbrahim parlak happened to you in turkish custody before and what do you think would happen if you return to turkey now . In the past, i have been many times taken under police custody. And once held while the military westw was an issue, from three months held in military custody. T is when i was just about 1988, was was captured and put in jail. Almost a month, and is treated mistreated, tortured. It is not the memory you want to revisit. If i go back with what is happened now, i mean, to go back me, have someone like to be suicidal to do that. There, theyns over are worse than even before. Nowhave over five cities under conflict. Hundreds of thousands of people pushed out of their homes. Morning when i was looking at the turkish woman,es, a kurdish assassinated. All they were doing was work for those then you have someone who is just trying to protect Historical Monument in the middle of the city, assassinated. Awayave journalists taken from it even will release information where they are. Who you have an immigrant has been to ported back to turkey from russia beaten up at the airport in front of everybody. Then you have the turkish newspapers surrounding headlines since the turkish government released information to them that after 25 years, finally, got him. He is on his way back. Amy do feel if you are sent back to turkey you could be killed . Yes. Amy i want to bring livia, your daughter, into this conversation, Livia Gazzolo. How has this latest threat to your dad being forced back to turkey affected you and your family . It is been really scary. All i was little, it was kind of i didnt know much about the story. I knew the outline. I knew my dad was innocent. Everybody loved him and that is what got me through, but lately i have learned more and all of the details, and it is all just really scary and very real. Amy you are in college. Have you been put on a nofly list . They didnt say outright that name ut they said my someone else with my name Livia Gazzolo who was on the nofly list and i was supposedly mistaken to be her. Amy your stopped coming back from london on a school trip. On a school trip, yeah. Twice. In the span of two hours. Checkedwas completely and i was patted down and had to be escorted onto the plane. Then again i want to San Francisco and was taken aside. Before i turned 18, two, which was a little startling. Amy Ibrahim Parlak, do you have support of elected leaders . Yes. It is been a long journey and through this long journey, the situation im in or and forced acceptn, it is hard to or hard to deal with on a daily basis, but one thing is for sure, having the community and officials, elected someone like senator levin, introduced a private bill every two years since 2005 and someone like the congressman who did the same thing, and still working hard to find a solution, and others who are trying to do the right thing amy i want to ask Rob Carpenter , would Ibrahim Parlak being returned to turkey violate the convention against torture . We just have 15 seconds i dont think theres any question it would be at odds against the convention against torture. Under article three, it prohibits the refollowing the return of an individual who is more likely than not going to be tortured upon his or her return and i think were well above that standard. Were approaching a virtual certainty of him being persecuted upon his return. Amy i want to thank you for being with us. We will continue to fall your case. Ibrahim parlak and your daughter Livia Gazzolo as well as your attorney Rob Carpenter. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or outreach democracynow. Org or mail them awuwooooo im john cleese. I think we all know that music, aside from the pure pleasure of it, sometimes has a transcendent power. What is called sacred music seems universally to be a form of prayer, a vehicle for spiritual practice, because music and sound are so clearly connected to our higher selves. So now were in for a special treat, because the reverend alan jones and native singer Joanne Shenandoah are going to give us the opportunity to experience something of this. So settle back, take a long, deep breath as we join our host, phil cousineau, on this musical, soulrendering episode of global spirit, the first internal travel series