Spring 2025
The KS Immigration Task Force has been supporting an Afghan refugee family for almost four years. We’ve made a huge difference, but there is more we can do.
Here’s what we’ve accomplished since this family arrived in November 2021:
- We helped the two sisters find temporary housing in Concord through the generosity of a KS member who provided housing for them for their first six months here.
- We made sure they had health care through MassHealth, SNAP benefits, and their Employment Authorizations.
- Generous donations of clothing and food were secured.
- We spent time with them to make them feel as comfortable and welcome as possible after their traumatic departure from Afghanistan in August 2021.
- We put out a call to the KS community for a fund we could use to help them with any number of needs over their first years here. The KS community generously donated over $10,000 to the fund.
- The KS Fund money was used to meet a number of needs including help with rent, utilities, and phones for the first year in their rental apartment. They now take full responsibility for all of these costs.
- We helped the sisters find their first jobs in the cafeteria of the Lincoln Public Schools, and we provided transportation for them to and from work throughout that school year.
- We found permanent housing in an apartment in Waltham in 2022 through the generosity of a landlord there. They recently signed their third year-long lease at an amazingly low rental for the space they have.
- Once in Waltham, they were able to secure employment at the Whole Foods in Newton because they can commute by bus to work. They have been working there full time since then.
- With pro-bono legal help secured for us through a KS member, we went through the complex process of applying for Asylum in the court. They received their asylum approvals in the summer of 2023.
- In the fall of 2024, we secured legal assistance from the International Institute of New England to file their applications for a Green Card, which is a Permanent Resident Card that signifies that an individual has been granted the legal right to live and work permanently in the country. It’s a form of immigration status, not a path to citizenship, though it can lead to citizenship after a certain period. It has always been uncertain as to the processing time for Green Cards, but it is further complicated by the current political situation. We do not know when they will receive their Green Cards.
For three years, one of the sisters communicated regularly with her husband while he was moving from place to place in hiding in Afghanistan in fear for his life from the Taliban. Once granted asylum in mid-2023, she was able to request resettlement for him. In the early fall of 2024, her husband was intensively vetted by the US government. He was then sent to a US military base in Qatar for final vetting, given Refugee status, and flown to Boston in early December of 2024.
Since the husband’s arrival, our Task Force has been helping him in his quest to become a productive member of his family and community. He came with quite good English skills, which is a great advantage. Here’s what has happened since his arrival:
- A team member helped him get signed up for a three month computer education certificate program through Regis College. He has begun that program.
- A generous team member’s family purchased a computer for him to meet his education needs.
- He began looking for a job, and secured a full-time position at a dental lab in Needham where two of his friends work.
- He secured his driver’s permit, is now being given driving lessons by a Kerem Shalom member, and has an appointment to take his driving test at the end of April. He is anxious to get a car to drive to work. The commute to work by car would be 20 minutes rather than his current 1 1/2 hours bus ride each way.
While we have been fortunate that all three members of this family arrived here when we could give them the support they need, the current situation has made things difficult for all immigrants. They now know that they are very unlikely to ever be able to get any other family members here. It’s a sad and frightening situation for them.
We’ve accomplished so much, but there is much more we can do for this family and for other refugee families who face so many challenges in these difficult times.