Afghans still adjusting to US: New life, new struggles

And I don’t know what to say.”It’s a reminder that the journey for many of the Afghans who came to the United States in the historic evacuation remains very much a work in progress, filled with uncertainty and anxiety about the future.Afghan refugees, some of whom faced possible reprisals for working with their government or American forces during the war with the Taliban, say in interviews that they are grateful to the U.S. for rescuing them and family members.But they are often struggling to gain a foothold in a new land, straining to pay their bills as assistance from the government and resettlement agencies starts to run out, stuck in temporary housing, and trying to figure out how to apply for asylum because most of the Afghans came under a two-year emergency status known as humanitarian parole.“We are not sure what may happen,” said Gulsom Esmaelzade, whose family has been shuttled between hotel rooms in the San Diego area since January, after spending three months at a New Jersey military base. Hasrat hasn’t been able to secure an SIV, at least not yet, despite his work as a subcontractor setting up transmission lines for the U.S. Army.Congress could resolve the situation by passing the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would enable evacuees to apply for permanent residency after a year in the country, similar to relief granted in the past to people from Iraq, Cuba and Vietnam. At a recent job fair in Alexandria, Virginia, there were hundreds of evacuees, including Arafat Safi, a former senior official in Afghan’s foreign affairs ministry who came to the U.S. with his wife, four children and mother.He’s hoping to land a job in project management or international development, to use an education that includes a master’s degree from the U.K. So far, he’s landed a position as a Pashto-English interpreter and is delivering packages for Amazon on the side while his wife, Madina, works in the bakery section of a supermarket.Safi said he still hopes to find a better job and is eager to get permanent residency.