What you can do to help Afghanistan’s refugees
When my father was 18 years old, he fled his home in Germany and came to the United States as a refugee. He arrived in New York in 1935 — the same year Adolf Hitler announced German rearmament in violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the Nazi Party enacted the Nuremberg Laws. As a Jew, my father saw clearly what future awaited him in Germany if he stayed.
I believe the fear of persecution and violence that pushed my father to escape Nazi Germany may be similar to the dread thousands of Afghans are feeling now. Throughout its history, the United States has opened its doors to millions of people in this position. People who are desperate for safe haven — people just like my dad.
Our government’s immediate focus must be on doing everything possible to swiftly evacuate American citizens and vulnerable Afghans — translators, democracy advocates, civil society leaders, journalists and others whose lives are at risk.
I fear for the fate of Afghanistan’s women leaders, which is why earlier this week my colleagues and I called for the creation of a humanitarian parole category for these heroines. And why for months senators of both parties pleaded with the White House to authorize more quickly Special Immigrant Visas for the translators and other Afghans who put their lives on the line to protect our servicemembers.
In times of global crisis, our government has stepped forward to help, and so too have individual Americans. Over the last several days, I’ve fielded calls from so many in Connecticut who watched the Taliban’s rapid takeover with horror. They want to help.
For anyone looking for ways to lend a hand, I urge you to focus on the upcoming crisis — how to feed, shelter and care for these individuals and families once they have escaped. Please seek out aid organizations with established reputations, especially those that work hand in hand with our state and federal agencies, and help them prepare to assist refugees in need.
Connecticut is home to several wonderful refugee resettlement organizations that have helped hundreds of families fleeing violence find safety and shelter. These organizations can always use assistance, whether it’s a donation of clothes, a hand setting up a new apartment, or connecting a refugee family with potential employers. These Afghans who provided so much assistance to the United States, and have sacrificed so much for us, are now in need of our help.
This issue is personal for me. I’ve visited Afghanistan, and I’ve seen firsthand what interpreters, drivers and other Afghans have done for our troops and for our nation. When my son Matt deployed to Afghanistan, he relied on a translator for whom my family will be forever grateful.
I’ve also been honored to get to know some of the Afghan refugees who have already settled in the United States. I first met Hewad Hemat, an interpreter for the U.S. Army, the American Embassy and the United Nations in Afghanistan in 2017 when he was my guest to the State of the Union. Over the last four years, we’ve kept in touch. I was thrilled to join Hewad and his family at his naturalization ceremony just last year and again last Friday at an event in New Haven at Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) in New Haven to call on the Biden administration to speed up the process for admitting Afghan interpreters and their families.
“No one will be left alive,” he warned. “That’s my fear.”
That is my fear, too — but if the U.S. government and the American people step up in this moment of crisis, it does not have to be a reality.
When my father arrived in the United States, he spoke no English, knew virtually no one and had little more than the shirt on his back. Our country gave him a chance — the same chance that thousands of Afghans now deserve. I will continue fighting to bring these brave men and women who have sacrificed so much for our nation out of Afghanistan to safety. I look forward to joining my fellow citizens of Connecticut in welcoming them to our country and our state and working together to help provide them with a start at a new life.