Afghan nationals start arriving in Greater Columbus
When Zaib Jamili walked out of the security checkpoint at John Glenn Columbus International Airport on Thursday evening with his wife and 1-yearold baby, resettlement staff spotted them right away.
Jamili, 21, was holding a white plastic bag with the letters “IOM” printed on it. It stands for the International Organization for Migration — the United Nations agency that makes travel arrangements for refugees.
The bag allowed caseworkers to easily recognize refugees and contained important paperwork that would grant them a new life in the United States.
Jamili was one of the first Afghan nationals to arrive in Columbus following the U.S. military withdrawal in August. The first person came on Sep. 24, according to Angie Plummer, executive director at a local resettlement agency called Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS).
On Thursday, Jamili’s family and as well as a family of four landed in the city. About 340 more are making their way to Columbus in the next six months, according to local resettlement agencies.
They are a part of the first group of nearly 37,000 Afghan evacuees who are now traveling to cities across the U.S. under the Department of State’s Afghan Placement and Assistance Program. Many are still awaiting their next steps at military bases in the U.S.
Jamili said he evacuated from Kabul with the U.S. military in August and spent more than a month at the Fort Lee Army base in Virginia prior to his Thursday flight.
The State Department program has been scrambled together with heightened urgency, according to Jhuma Acharya, a caseworker at CRIS, which is in charge of resettling Jamili’s family. Agencies usually get a week’s notice before a new refugee shows up, but Acharya only received Jamili’s travel itinerary the day of his flight.
Jamshid Jalili, Jamili’s uncle who lives in Dublin, came to the airport with his wife and four kids to pick up the newcomers. They greeted each other with big smiles and hugged each other’s children as soon as they met.
Jalili came from Afghanistan to the United States as a refugee six years ago after the Taliban threatened to kill him due to his interpretation work for the U.S. government. His father, who is now waiting at Fort Lee, is expected to join him in the near future, he said.
“I was very worried about my family when everything happened in August,” said Jalili, 34. “I’m just happy that Jamili’s here and they’re safe.”
The Afghan families are in the U.S. through humanitarian parole, a process that allows immigrants in exceptional circumstances to enter the country without visas. Because they are not categorized as refugees, Acharya said he was worried that parolees would not receive the full range of benefits and services to which refugees are entitled.
On Thursday, however, he was notified by CRIS’S national partner that Afghan parolees are now eligible for public benefits, Medicaid and resettlement services such as matching them with employment opportunities.
“Today we got the good news that they are now eligible for public benefits. I was so happy that I shouted in the car,” Acharya said. “At least now they have those safety nets and can be better supported.”
Jamili’s family will stay with their relatives in Dublin for now until CRIS helps them figure out a longterm housing plan. Ahead of them are three months of federally funded resettlement programming aimed to help them adjust to their life in the Greater Columbus area.
Local agencies are required to have two meetings with refugees, but Acharya said CRIS employees usually talk to new arrivals at least 10 times to introduce them to their new neighborhood, assist them with government paperwork, and help them with employment, housing, their children’s schooling and more.
“I will do my first home visit with Jamili tomorrow and see them at least two or three times in the next two months,” Acharya said. “Our other staff members will also be calling them for cultural orientation and other things.
“It’s a very long process,” he said. “But we want to make sure they get everything they need from us.”
Yilun Cheng is a Report for America corps member and covers immigration issues for the Dispatch. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one. Please consider making a taxdeductible donation at https://bit.ly/3fnsgaz. ycheng@dispatch.com
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