Ahmadullah Noori’s face lights up when she talks about her love of aviation. The 27-year-old has completed more than 1,300 hours as a pilot of a US-made Black Hawk helicopter for the Afghan Armed Forces in the fight against the Taliban. .
“(Pilots) can walk on the ground and in the sky,” he said.
But in June 2021, his time as a pilot collapsed when his helicopter was directly hit and he fell 500 feet to the ground. Noori suffered serious injuries that required surgeries.
Two months after the crash, while Noori was still recovering from grief, the U. S. military withdrew from Afghanistan.
After spending several days in Qatar and then Germany, Noori found herself at a military base in New Mexico. But after a few weeks, he and the pilots evacuated from Kabul moved to Phoenix.
When he arrived alone in the United States, he hoped to be an airplane pilot. But doctors told him that because of his head injuries, that probably wouldn’t happen.
“The moment they said you were harmful and you couldn’t fly, I just looked at them and they broke my heart,” Noori said.
He now works at Sky Harbor International Airport as a ramp agent, helping with loading and unloading under-wing luggage or cabin maintenance.
More than two years after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, Afghans resettled in the United States like Noori have continued to rebuild their lives in the country, while their families remain in Afghanistan.
Despite their role as allies of the U. S. government at home, their long journey in the United States has been fragile from the start.
After the Taliban took over the country, the U. S. evacuated thousands of Afghans who had worked alongside the U. S. government and military in Operation Allied Welcome. To date, more than 115,000 Afghans have been resettled in the United States under this program, according to the U. S. Department. of Homeland Security.
“Afghan newcomers contribute to our economy, help their families and enrich the cultural fabric of our society,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayankas said as he marked the second anniversary of the start of the operation.
Melanie Reyes is the lead engagement and advocacy officer for the International Rescue Committee network in Phoenix, one of many resettlement agencies in Arizona. He said the influx of Afghans into local communities is testing the refugee resettlement formula that had been hollowed out over the past four years.
Finding housing in the midst of the pandemic is a challenge and remains so today.
“When the Afghans came, we put them on the other side of the valley, in neighborhoods that could . . . schools may not have served refugees sooner,” Reyes said. And we have refugees with incredible capabilities that they can’t use here, but they have to feed a circle of relatives and pay the rent.
Mursal Sadat had built a life in Afghanistan that made her a prime target for the Taliban. She is a single woman who graduated from the American University of Afghanistan and worked for the U. S. Agency for International Development, helping to build the country’s infrastructure.
But when it became clear that the Taliban would take control of the country, she fled, leaving her parents and siblings behind her as she sought safe haven in the United States as part of Operation Welcome to the Allies.
When he moved to Concord, a city in the Bay Area of Northern California, Sadat applied for asylum. By congressional mandate, the U. S. government had to process his request in less than 150 days.
For Sadat, it took about 400 anguished days.
“It caused me a lot of anxiety, depression and stress,” she said. “It has affected my daily life, where I find it difficult to concentrate on my work, where I can miss my promotion opportunities because I can’t go abroad and I can’t dedicate myself one hundred percent to my work. “
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Like the other 115,000 Afghans who came to the United States, Sadat also obtained a two-year humanitarian parole parole, allowing them to work and apply for more permanent protections, such as asylum.
But for some 20,000 Afghans, their asylum claims are still pending despite the 150-day mandate. Humanitarian clearances for others without an asylum order will expire in the coming weeks.
Sadat believes U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the firm tasked with examining her cases, approved her application primarily because she is one of seven others who have filed a lawsuit against USCIS to force the firm to comply with the 150-day limit.
“Coming to the United States and waiting a long time for my asylum, one thing that bothered me was that I had already gone through this process, the verification process. My adventure is clear,” he said.
Although he has already been granted asylum status, Sadat is conducting the trial on behalf of the Afghans who are still waiting. They hope the federal ruling in San Francisco overseeing their case will certify it as a lawsuit.
“The fact that those gigantic numbers have remained in limbo — just Americans, but also families of those Americans — I think shows how much is at stake for the government in terms of treating those Americans and keeping its promise. why we had to take this case to federal court now,” said Michael Williams, Kirkland’s attorney.
When the two-year humanitarian parole expires, Afghans who have not obtained an asylum ruling can apply for renewal of their parole status, but those rulings are made on a case-by-case basis, Williams said.
The threat and greatest fear is that permanent coverage and due to USCIS delays in processing asylum claims, some Afghans will completely lose their legal standing in the country.
Other proposals for more permanent responses for Afghan allies resettled in the United States are stalled.
The most recent edition of a bill known as the Afghan Adjustment Act was introduced in Congress. Reps. David Schweikert (R-Ariz. ) and Greg Stanton (D-Ariz. ) are co-sponsors of the House edition.
The bill would identify a path to citizenship for Afghans who came to the United States after 2021. It would also expand eligibility for special immigrant visas to Afghans outside the United States who were part of that country’s military or government before its collapse.
The bill was included in defense spending this summer, but made it to the last Senate edition. That means the law is unlikely to pass anytime soon.
“After serving our allies for two decades, they are not worried about being forced to return to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,” said Jennie Murray, president and CEO of the National Forum on Immigration.
The organization held a vote earlier this month that seemed overwhelming by the American public in favor of permanent protections for Afghan allies. Two-thirds of the 1,200 voters surveyed said they approved the Afghan Adjustment Act. This point extends regardless of gender, age, race, or political position. affiliation.
While more than 115,000 Afghan allies have arrived in the United States since 2021, thousands more remain stranded along with their families.
No One Is Left Behind, a nonprofit created to help interpreters working with the U. S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan, estimates that about 152,000 people eligible for special immigration visas remain in Afghanistan. So far this year, the organization has evacuated 1,317 Afghans, the U. S. government no longer has a diplomatic project there.
Special immigrant visas are only available to Americans who have been hired directly through the U. S. government. The U. S. or NATO U. S. Department of State has not been able to do so. The U. S. government said it has issued 38,500 visas since 2014. The program has been extended until the end of 2024, but the number of available visas has only increased slightly.
However, other people who have worked with the U. S. government have worked with the U. S. government. U. S. citizens in other capacities are eligible for SIVs, as are their families.
Sadat’s family fled to Pakistan about six months after the Taliban seized Afghanistan, fearing they would be targeted given their daughter’s ties to the U. S. government. Nearly 18 months later, his family remains stranded in Pakistan on an expired visa.
“They don’t have a job. They can’t go to school. They are almost locked in their apartment,” Sadat said. “Can you believe how miserable it is for a circle of relatives to leave their country and find themselves locked in a house, in an apartment?Where can’t you faint because you’ll be arrested and deported to a country where you’re no longer safe?
Sadat’s joy mirrors that of thousands of Afghans living in the United States who have left their families in Afghanistan or neighboring countries.
Not only does she feel obligated to support herself because she lives in a valuable area like the Bay Area, but she is also the primary breadwinner for her family members. He said he had to work overtime to save enough money to send them.
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Without permanent standing in the United States, Afghans in the United States have very limited functions to file petitions on behalf of their families.
Sadat was confident that his family circle would receive help if they left Afghanistan, but he was unable to secure appointments or help from the U. S. diplomatic project in Pakistan.
While she said she was grateful for the opportunity to resettle in the United States and for her work, Sadat said her parents’ situation, along with the time it took to get a resolution on their asylum claim, left her frustrated.
“Reading with them, running with them, being their ally, I’ve trusted the American government. I was one of those who strongly supported them, and I still do. I respect them,” Sadat said. But sadly, the promises they make are false. I feel betrayed. I feel mistreated as an ally. And what they did to me is rarely really right. “
Recently, Sajjad and Mo Novrouzi, two brothers from Tolleson, walked through a resource fair at the Alhambra High School gymnasium.
The community around the school, in downtown Phoenix, has one of Arizona’s largest concentrations of refugees. Of the 2,100 students enrolled in the Alhambra, about six hundred are refugees, according to school officials.
The brothers, aged 18 and 22, were born in Afghanistan. The family left thirteen years ago and spent nine years in a refugee camp in Turkey, where the two brothers grew up. Four years ago, they were resettled as refugees in the United States. and ended up in Tolleson last year.
The two men walked around dressed in black T-shirts that read “I speak Dari, Turkish, Farsi and English. “They volunteered to help anyone who wanted their help translate at the resource fair to connect refugees in the domain ranging from enrollment in HeadStart preschool to English classes.
Mo said it dates back to when his family came to the United States four years ago.
“Someone helped us enroll in school. They taught us transportation, the bus, how to get a car. How to make signs to get to a houseThey helped us with that,” he said. It’s quite difficult to ‘be honest’. “I’m glad they helped us. Otherwise, we may not. Maybe it would be harder. For now, I just need to do the same and help people. “
Dr. Jodi Weber, principal of Alhambra High, said there were not as many Afghan students enrolled at her school as she had hoped, but emphasized the role schools like hers play as a resource for students and their families to rebuild their lives. in the United States.
“We see a lot of academics who want medical or dental assistance. Some want glasses and have never had an eye exam. You know, all that medical stuff,” Weber said. Language is obviously a factor in itself, but then it’s an even bigger barrier when looking to apply for those services.
One of the wonderful and demanding situations Afghans faced in the United States upon arrival was that, under the Trump administration, the number of refugees resettled in the country fell to historic levels, reducing the ability of resettlement agencies to assist them upon arrival.
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By the end of fiscal year 2021, just as Afghans were beginning to arrive in the United States, Arizona had taken in 647 refugees, according to the Department of Economic Security. In the past two years, more than 2,500 Afghans have resettled in the state. .
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, resettlement agencies stepped up their efforts, but struggled to secure long-term housing or provide in-person services.
During this time, agencies operating in Arizona also strengthened their coordination with state and local governments to get Afghans and other refugees resettled in the state.
Last month, the Arizona legislature hosted the first assembly of the U. S. New Talent Review Committee, comprised of elected officials and network leaders, to draft a report identifying tactics to further integrate refugees and asylum seekers into society and the state.
State Senator Flavio Bravo is co-chair of the committee and represents Legislative District 26, which is Alhambra High School.
“I think we’re going to schedule at least 4 committee meetings where we can address enough issues to, regardless, produce recommendations in December on whether there are barriers that can be removed at the state point or if there’s something we can just do that doesn’t. “This doesn’t require law for state agencies,” Bravo said.
The committee partnered with the City of Phoenix, resettlement agencies and networked nonprofits for the Alhambra Refugee Resource Fair.
Phoenix has played a greater role in assisting refugees and asylum seekers living in the city and the organizations that support them. In March, under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Yassamin Ansari, Phoenix created the Office of Refugee Support.
“A lot of wonderful work has been done, but there’s always more to do,” Ansari said. “Two years later, I think the state we’re in now seeks to help other people not only here, but also create opportunities for them to really succeed and thrive.
The city has allocated $8. 3 million in investments under the American Rescue Plan Act to 4 resettlement agencies in the valley. The investment is helping those nonprofits provide emergency services to refugee and asylum families, such as medical or dental services or food and housing, among others. other.
Ansari, whose mother sought safe haven in the United States from Iran about 40 years ago, said her mother’s experience has helped shape the work she is helping to lead through the city’s new Office of Refugee Aid. But he said those efforts continue long after Afghans and other safe havens have settled into their new lives.
Afghans like Sadat and Noori, who came to the United States two years ago, say they are grateful for what they have gained so far to rebuild their lives and continue to provide for their families.
For Noori, the process has had its ups and downs. On the one hand, you’ve been granted asylum in the United States and you can start thinking long-term here at home. But he will drive a new avión. de.
He may simply undergo several medical examinations after completing the two major surgeries to treat the injuries he sustained when his helicopter crashed in Afghanistan. But that demands thousands of dollars that he doesn’t have right now, especially as his family’s primary breadwinner. relatives in Afghanistan.
Lately he works at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport in underwing services. He aspires to live up to the purposes of a manager, but close to airplanes.
This calls for more education and education, and also about the money needed or scholarships, he hopes.
However, Noori is not discouraged by this situation. His faith, his family, and his preference for finding them in the short or long term keep him active.
He also learned to value small victories. After undergoing a series of surgeries that limited her mobility for a while, Noori returned to training at the gym and can do about a hundred push-ups, she says.
In his studio in Tempe, a short distance from the airport, the first object he sees when he opens the door after a long day painting is a frame he discovered in a Goodwill store one really difficult day. There is only one word in it. He took it as a sign.
“I went down to the head of the bed, there was furniture and there were things. And I saw that word, hope,” he said. I was stuck for a minute or several and said, “Yes, don’t be helpless. Maybe something is wrong for some reason. “