Waves Of Afghan Refugees Are Arriving In The U.S. Here’s Some Help They Can Expect

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Refugees arrive at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on Friday after being evacuated from Kabul following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

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Refugees are on a tight budget from the moment they stop off the plane

A big chunk of the work begins even before they set foot in the San Antonio airport. With funding from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and donations, Girela and her colleagues take care of all of the logistical relocation details. They find appropriate housing, set up utilities, arrange furniture, and make sure there are plates in cupboards and silverware in drawers. «They have already been through so much — through so much trauma. These are not things they should have to think about.»

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Afghan Abdul Aman Sediqi, a U.S. Special Immigrant Visa recipient, holds his son Edris as he and his family prepare to sign a lease on a new apartment on Thursday.

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Finding jobs and becoming self-sufficient takes priority

RAICES provides job skills training and helps with job hunting. «We have a very high job success rate,» Girela says, though she notes most people find «starter jobs» at local food processing or packaging plants in San Antonio.

«A lot of the people we’re helping actually have degrees and are pretty highly educated so they take these jobs» on a temporary basis, while RAICES helps them navigate recertification or other education programs.

Qualifying adults can also get monthly refugee cash assistance. The amounts vary depending on household size, but a single adult gets about $415 a month for the first four months, then goes down to a little less than $200 a month. The sum also decreases depending on any income earned.

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There’s also the cultural adjustment component

It seems like an obvious thing to say, Girela noted, but «everything is incredibly different here.» Almost immediately she and her team begin a cultural orientation process that includes lessons on U.S. currency, how and where to send a monthly rental payment, how to buy a money order or set up a checking account.

«The great thing is we have a pretty big Afghan community here in San Antonio so our clients have a built-in support system that they can turn to,» Girela said. Odd or embarrassing questions can be answered by members of their own community who have themselves been through a similar transition, according to Girela.

In a way, Girela says, the «go, go, go» pace of the first few weeks can keep new arrivals from processing their feelings about the move halfway around the world. But once routines are established and the initial shock wears off, signs of the psychological and emotional toll begin to show.

«Maybe the honeymoon period has kind of ended,» she said. «But that’s when we start to observe if there’s any trauma that may have taken place.»

It’s possible that the evacuees that made it out of Kabul on these final flights before the Aug. 31 deadline could have a very different experience, Girela said. «But we’ll be here for them,» she added.

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