Afghans still waiting for path to remain in U.S.

Life has changed enormously in the last six weeks for Aziza Akbari. That's when she arrived in Aurora.

"Being a refugee is very hard," Akbari explained. "Now that I'm here, it's amazing; I'm happy being here." She has settled down in Aurora with another Afghan refugee as a roommate. "I was the type the Taliban and Al Qaeda both would not like me," she said of her life in Afghanistan. 

Akbari was a woman with a master's degree, teaching English. Her bachelor's degree was in chemical engineering. When the Taliban took over in August of 2021, she stayed home and cried, then got rid of documents that could show what she did. 

"I worked with foreigners; I was an English teacher, and I was out of the country for some years," Akbari said. "So I was the main target for them. So that's why I felt afraid and I burned those documents."

Akbari was able to escape to Pakistan with family. Without documents (although she had photographed them) she was unable to leave for the United States for eleven months. 

"I'm refugee here. Still, I don't have my documents," Akbari said. "I hope I get my documents soon, but still I don't have." 

Her parents and siblings are still in Pakistan waiting to come to the U.S. Like many others, she hopes to remain. She would likely have to apply for political asylum. 

Many of the other Afghans who have arrived over the past year, who directly helped American forces, also wait. Close to 90,000 were let into the U.S. on what is considered temporary humanitarian parole. 

Afghans were taken from the airport in Kabul to places like Kuwait, Qatar or Germany to be vetted. Their special permissions will expire in August of 2023 if Congress does not approve an expansion of the Special Immigrant Visa program that is a pathway to remaining in the U.S.

"A year ago when Afghanistan fell, we were all on board, and everybody was doing their best to do whatever they could to help the Afghan people who were left behind, But as time went by so many, other issues came to light, Ukraine, you know, American politics and elections," said Safi Rauf, who currently serves as president of the Human First Coalition. 

Rauf served along with U.S. Special Operations soldiers in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2018. Late last year, he returned to Afghanistan with his NGO to try to help people in need. Many who helped American forces and their families are stuck and in danger. 

"They're still there; they are still fighting for their lives; and they're being persecuted every day," Rauf explained. "They're tortured, killed. Worse things are happening to them and their families." 

Rauf was kidnapped and held by the Taliban for months, his release later negotiated by the Biden Administration.  He worries about American integrity if Afghans who helped U.S. forces are not looked out for. 

"We could get into another war tomorrow, and what are we going to say to our allies? And why would people stand with us if we don't keep our word?" Rauf said. 

America, Rauf believes, has moved on. "The attention span for the American people, the population, the public, is very short. They tend to jump from one cause to another very quickly," he said.

The special immigrant visas would require new vetting for those applying, Rauf noted. While many who are here are getting jobs and settling in, there remains a potential of deportation. 

"We brought them under a temporary status, and now, these people have to live here in limbo," Rauf said. "They can't start a life here; they can't go get a job. They don't have social security number; they don't have green cards."

Rauf and others are trying to reach lawmakers, especially in Republican-dominated states as support in Congress for allowing Afghans to stay has waned. 

"They did their part of the job, but now we didn't do our part of the job," Rauf said. "It is a betrayal of the American promise, the American integrity."