In Houston, fleeing Afghans pursue American Dream
Wedged in a southwest Houston strip mall, the Afghan Village restaurant is a busy hub — a place to drink green tea, eat staples such as kabuli pulao and talk about the rapidly changing situation in Kabul.
It’s also the place where many newly arrived Afghans get their first job.
Omer Yousafzai, the restaurant’s owner, estimates he’s hired dozens of Afghans there and about 200 since 2012 at his six local businesses, which include the neighboring halal grocery store and a gift shop.
“Some of them, they come with maybe a couple hundred dollars in their pockets and nothing else. I not only give them a job, but I help them financially. I help them with the groceries,” Yousafzai said.
There’s a good chance that some of the hundreds of Afghans who are expected to arrive in Houston in the coming weeks and months will find their first jobs at one of Yousafzai’s businesses. These Afghans, holders of Special Immigrant Visas and their families, will be expected to quickly find work and become self-sufficient, as some of their temporary public benefits — such as cash assistance — begin to run out within their first year in the country.
Finding jobs quickly will be even more important to incoming Afghans who don’t arrive with a visa in hand. Refugee resettlement agencies in Houston are preparing to welcome these so-called parolees, who won’t immediately be eligible for cash assistance and other public benefits because their visas hadn’t been issued before they were evacuated from Kabul.
Yousafzai is keen to hire newly arrived Afghans. He said they understand the cuisine, they’re hospitable, many speak fluent English and have worked as interpreters, and they’re coming from a tough life and are eager to work hard.
“When you ask them to jump, they don’t ask you, ‘Why?’ ” Yousafzai said. “They say, ‘How high?’ ”
As a community jobs center, the Afghan Village restaurant is a familiar place to employment case manager Naqibullah Laghmanai. He works with Refugee Services of Texas to secure jobs for recently arrived refugees and Special Immigrant Visa holders.
The restaurant is an example of how the tight-knit Afghan community helps out newcomers looking for work. On group chats, Laghmanai said, word spreads fast about new job postings.
And Laghmanai said it’s not uncommon for Afghans, especially Special Immigrant Visa holders, to find jobs quickly and immediately start moving up the career ladder. The Special Immigrant Visa is designated for Afghans and Iraqis who worked with the U.S. military and often held jobs as interpreters or other key roles.
“Because of their talent, because of their hard work and because of their dedication (and) service, there’s a lot of chances for them to grow up in a company,” he said.
But their strong work ethic and desire to advance their careers often cause them to work relatively short stints at their first jobs, like at Yousafzai’s restaurant.
“As soon as they get their first vehicle, they give me their two weeks’ notice,” said Yousafzai, smiling. “I’m 100 percent behind them. I know they’re very talented.”
He said many go on to start their own businesses, such as a taxi or limo service, or open up grocery stores or cellphone shops. Less than a week ago, Yousafzai said, one of his employees bought an 18-wheeler to start his own trucking business.
“He got his commercial driver license, and he was doing transfer business back in Afghanistan,” Yousafzai said. “Now he’s on the road and there is a big demand for that.”
‘Tell us what we can do’
Laghmanai can also attest to the rapid career growth — and work ethic — among arriving Afghans in Houston.
He helps Special Immigrant Visa holders, as well as other refugees, to update their résumés, find jobs and become economically self-sufficient. The visa has been a godsend for Afghan allies who have faced death threats from the Taliban for their work with U.S. armed forces and have needed to flee the country.
Laghmanai has a running list of employers, such as Yousafzai, who look to hire these newcomers. And since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, he said, about 10 new businesses have reached out, offering positions at their companies.
“A lot of people have been reaching out and saying, ‘Tell us what we can do. We have job offers,’ ” said Laghmanai.
He said he’s heard from people looking to fill security, hotel and convenience store jobs, as well as people who need administrative and trucking work. Third-generation rug merchant Alex Mohammadzad of Ashly Fine Rugs reached out as well, hoping to hire Afghans at their store.
“We’re looking for people that are experienced in the rug industry, whether it was the weaving side of it, design side of it,” Mohammadzad said. “It just feels comforting to go ahead and bring some Afghans and let them have a job that they’re comfortable with.”
Laghmanai said these job offers are a good thing, though it will take some time to get people resettled and working. Most recently evacuated Afghans are at one of four designated U.S. military bases for Afghans or in a safe third country undergoing security checks.
But once these Special Immigrant Visa holders get here, Laghmanai said, they will rise in the ranks quickly, as many have worked in specialized jobs as engineers, doctors and interpreters.
After he first came to the U.S. through a Special Immigrant Visa in 2013, his first jobs were as a fry cook and restocking shelves at Walmart. He moved on to jobs in language education and now refugee services.
An analysis of government data from 2015 by New American Economy, a think tank, shows that Special Immigrant Visa holders and refugees have demonstrated a pattern of economic upward mobility, said Jeremy Robbins, director of the pro-immigration group.
“When refugees first get here, their income’s low,” Robbins said. “The median income for refugees who have been here five years or less was $22,000. But what happens is that refugees over time, as you learn English, as you get settled, if you look over time, end up earning way more — more than the average American.”
Robbins said refugees who have been in the U.S. for at least 25 years have a median household income of $67,000, which is $14,000 higher than the median U.S. household. New American Economy estimates that some 10,400 Afghan immigrants live in Texas, according to analysis of American Community Survey data from 2019.
The think tank also found that refugees and Special Immigrant Visa holders in the U.S. are more likely than those born here to start their own business. And Afghans, having worked previously with the U.S. military, are generally coming in with more education and English-language skills than the average refugee.
Getting help
That’s not to say there aren’t barriers for incoming Afghans looking for jobs in their field.
Rafiullah Shinwari, a Special Immigrant Visa holder from Afghanistan, used to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan. Since arriving in Houston in late 2018, Shinwari has been working to grow in his career as a professional drafter. He’s received some support along the way.
“YMCA, they give me the admission (for Houston Community College), and they give me the AutoCAD certification,” said Shinwari, who explained that the engineering program certification — which was paid for by the refugee resettlement organization YMCA International Services — helped him land a job at Harvey-Cleary Builders.
Shinwari also received aid from Cress Clippard, a military veteran who connected him with the nonprofit NextOp, which helped Shinwari with his résumé and job interview.
“He was underemployed, but that was at least in the right direction,” Clippard said.
And Shinwari has continued to advance his career and education. At his two-story home in Sugar Land, he explained he later took a job at a small design firm. This year, he started pursuing his degree in architecture engineering at Lone Star College.
He’s not the only one in his family with ambitions. His wife recently started working at a print ship, Imprint. Shinwari’s eldest son wants to become a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. His other sons are interested in mechanical engineering and computer science. He has special plans for his youngest, a 5-year-old girl: to become a doctor.
“It’s my dream,” Shinwari said. At Yousafzai’s restaurant in southwest Houston, an Afghan cashier flashes a photo of his infant son, who is stuck in Afghanistan. Afghans working and dining there share stories of family members who are trying to flee. Far more will be left behind than the tens of thousands airlifted to safety.
But for the lucky few, the economic opportunities in Houston — and other U.S. cities — await.
“I came here with nothing,” said Yousafzai, who arrived here in 2001 as a student and became a citizen after seeking asylum.
“I only had a couple hundred dollars, maybe more or less, in my pocket when I came to the U.S. and now I have over maybe 30, 40 people working for me in different areas,” Yousafzai said. “I’m the living example of American Dream.”