PLEASE, U.S., RESCUE MY PARENTS AND MY BROTHER

I am 21 years old, and I lived in Afghanistan my whole life — until I fled for my safety in May.

I was born into a family of public servants, and both of my parents had spent their entire careers in government. After the old Taliban government fell in the early 2000s, they both joined the new government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, working for a free, democratic Afghanistan. That is the only life I ever knew.

In 2019, I was engaged to and then married the love of my life. Before we were married, he worked for five years with the United States Special Forces in Afghanistan as a translator and interpreter.

After that period, as was promised to him, my husband applied for a Special Immigrant Visa and came to the United States.

We were married in Afghanistan, and when he returned to the U.S., he filed an application for me to immigrate there and join him.

From 2019 until 2021, I was separated from my husband as I waited in Afghanistan for my case approval. That approval came in August 2021, but by then the Taliban had taken over again. Afghanistan was at war, its borders were closed, and no one was being allowed to leave their homes.

That month, while the United States was evacuating Americans and Afghan allies after ending its 20-year war in the country, I attempted several times to get to the airport.

Each time I was not successful. One time, I was beaten in front of the airport.

I was in a difficult situation because of who I was married to and what my parents did for a living, and my life became very complicated. My parents’ work for the old, democratic government, and my husband’s work with the U.S. military, made my parents’, my little brother’s and my life very difficult.

We were in constant danger, fearing what would happen if we stepped outside our home.

Then, the Taliban started searching homes, looking for weapons and former security forces. Because of my parents’ military experiences, this was an extremely dangerous time for us.

At that time, a caseworker from the #AfghanEvac Coalition, a group of 200 organizations focused on evacuation and humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, helped me hugely. The coalition helped me get my final documents processed and to get on the evacuation list.

Finally, on Dec. 6 at 6 a.m., I was waiting behind the airport’s gate to get on a flight out of Afghanistan. But after waiting for many hours, the police officers at the airport told me that my flight had been canceled and I had to return home. I was devastated and in tears when I returned home to wait for news.

From Dec. 6 to April 9, I hid in Kabul, without my husband and separated from my family. My parents and 9-year-old brother were on their own, and to be safe, they were changing their location every month. I cried each day and was awake late into the night for weeks. I was so frustrated and lonely and waited for five more months before I was evacuated.

On April 9, the caseworker from the #AfghanEvac Coalition contacted me and said, “Today you have a flight and will be evacuated.”

As I had done five months before, I went in secret to the airport at 5 a.m.. But this time, at last, my flight was in the air with me on board, and I had departed Kabul by 10 a.m. My flight landed in Doha, Qatar, for further processing and medical checks, and I stayed there for about a month while I waited for everything to finish processing. It was the first time I had felt safe in months.

On May 9, I left for the United States, and, after three and half years of separation, I was finally reunited with my husband.

Unfortunately, my parents’ situation is still very bad.

My sister, who left Afghanistan years ago, filed for humanitarian parole for my parents and brother in October, but we have not heard anything about their case or an approval. I think about my family every day, and I cannot sleep most nights. I want to respectfully ask the U.S. government to please rescue my parents and my brother.

I am grateful for the help of the #AfghanEvac Coalition for helping to reunite me with my husband and now trying to help my family. It makes me sad what has happened to my home country, and I hope that one day Afghanistan will be free and democratic once again.

My husband and I got very lucky, and by chance became connected to the #AfghanEvac Coalition. My husband served alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and met #AfghanEvac leadership in August 2021 while driving an Uber in Downtown San Diego. My parents and my little brother are still in Afghanistan, in hiding.

We have no word on their case. I think about my family every day, and I cannot sleep.