A Choice Between Society and Opportunity for Afghan Refugees

FREMONT, Ca. – Harris Mojadedi’s parents fled Afghanistan’s communist revolution forty years before and arrived in this San Francisco suburb as refugees in 1986, lured by the unexpected presence of a Persian-speaking doctor and a single Afghan grocer.

Over the decades, as more refugees settled in Fremont, the eclectic neighborhood became known as Little Acceptance, a pleasant place where Mr. Mojadedi’s father, a former judge, and his wife could both land blue-collar jobs and find an affordable place to live. and they are raising their children surrounded by mosques, halal restaurants and thousands of other Afghans.

“When I went to school, I saw other Afghan children. I knew my culture and felt that my community was part of Fremont,” said Mr. Mojadedi, remembering a recent game of teka and chapli kebab at lunch with other young Afghans in the area.

But now, as the United States begins to absorb a new wave of refugees frantically evacuated from Kabul in the final, chaotic days of America’s 20-year war in Afghanistan, it’s far from clear that a place like Fremont would be ideal. target for them. With more than $2,500 a month in one-bedroom apartments, Bay Area city residences are out of reach. Finding a job can be more difficult than in many other parts of the country. The cost of living is boosted by the nearby Silicon Valley. Even longtime residents of Little Kabul go to cheaper areas.

The alternative is Fargo, ND or Tulsa, Okla, where jobs are plentiful, housing is cheap, and mayors are eager for new workers. send it to places like

But these communities lack the kind of cultural support that Mr. Mojadedi experienced. Displaced Afghans will likely find language barriers, little social service and perhaps hostility towards foreigners. There are already signs of a backlash against refugees in some states where economic statistics show they are most needed.

“Are we setting them up to fail there?” Asked over lunch, Homaira Hosseini, a lawyer and Afghan refugee who grew up in Little Kabul. “They have no support. Or do we set them up to fail where there is no job but support?”

This is the difficult question facing President Biden’s administration and the country’s nonprofit resettlement organizations as they try to find places to live for newly displaced Afghans. As of November 19, more than 22,500 settlements and more than 42,500 are waiting for their new homes in temporary housing at eight military bases across the country, including 3,500 in a week in October.

Initial agreements between the State Department and resettlement agencies involved sending 5,255 to California, 4,481 to Texas, 1,800 to Oklahoma, 1,679 to Washington, 1,610 to Arizona, and hundreds more to nearly every state. North Dakota will receive at least 49 refugees. Mississippi and Alabama will receive at least 10.

Where refugees go from there depends on the resettlement agencies in each state. Sometimes refugees may seek to live in communities where they already have family or friends. But officials said most of the displaced Afghans who arrived this summer have no affiliation with the United States.

“These people are coming at a time when the job market is very good,” said Jack Markell, the former Democratic Delaware governor who oversees the resettlement efforts. “But they also come here at a time when the housing market is very tight.”

“Our job is to provide a safe and dignified welcome and prepare people for long-term success,” he said. “And that means we associate them with jobs, doing everything we can to get them to cost-effective places.”

Failure to successfully integrate refugees could fall into the hands of conservatives who oppose immigration – even those who helped Americans during the war – and conservatives who argue that Afghans will rob Americans of their jobs and bring the threat of crime to communities, according to Mr. Biden. . After initially welcoming the refugees, North Dakota’s Republican governor took a tougher stance, reiterating his party’s concerns about examining them.

Haomyyn Karimi, a former refugee who has been a baker at an Afghan market in Little Kabul for three decades, is overwhelmed by the thought of another generation of Afghan refugees struggling to make a new life in the face of financial hardship and discrimination.

“They were living in Afghanistan,” Mr. Karimi said through a translator during a short interview at the Maiwand Market in downtown Fremont. “Their money was in banks in Afghanistan, which were no longer given to them. So they literally start with nothing.”

‘They need to find workers.’

Refugees arrive at a time of dire economic need – nationwide labor shortages mean communities are desperate for workers. In Fargo, where unemployment is 2.8 percent, many restaurants are forced to close early because they cannot find enough workers.

“Everyone is looking for people,” said Daniel Hannaher, director of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Agency’s Fargo resettlement agency, which expects to accept several dozen refugees soon. “And you know, it’s getting to a point where everybody’s mad at restaurants now.”

The same is true in Tulsa, where the unemployment rate is 3.5 percent and has fallen. The city’s Republican mayor, GT Bynum, told Public Radio Tulsa that he wants new refugees to see that Tulsa “is a city where we help each other, whether you’ve lived here your whole life or just got off the plane.” from Afghanistan.”

Financial aid for Afghan refugees flows through resettlement agencies in the form of a one-time payment of up to $1,225 per capita for food aid, rent, furniture and minor expenses. An additional $1,050 per person is sent to resettlement agencies to provide English lessons and other services.

Mr Markell said that since refugees have work permits in the United States, much of the aid is geared towards helping them find work. Refugees are also eligible for Medicaid benefits and food stamps.

Historically, refugees quickly came to work in the United States without getting jobs from Americans.

About one in five new refugees to the United States finds a job within their first year of arrival; this is a high rate among rich countries. an article published by three researchers At University College London last year in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. Employment rates for refugees going to America have risen sharply in the years that have followed.

Critics of the high level of refugee admission, including former President Donald J. Trump’s senior officials in the White House, argue that refugees compete with American workers – particularly for low-paying jobs – and significantly reduce the earnings of existing workers.

The vast majority of empirical economic research finds that this is not true. A comprehensive report published by Office of the chief economist of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Examining the settlement patterns of past refugees in the United States, he compared the economic consequences of the areas where they settled and where they did not. It found “strong causal evidence that refugees have no long-term negative impact on the US labor market.”

According to economists, the current labor market is making it even less likely that refugees are stealing jobs or suppressing wages for people who are already here. US employers Reported over 10 million job postings It fell slightly nationwide in August from a record 11 million in July. Workers have been slow to return to jobs or industries they left during the pandemic, leaving many restaurants and retail stores desperate to get to work.

With such high demand for labor across the country or the appeal of worker-scorched areas that could offer relatively high starting salaries even for inexperienced staff, previous waves of refugees have entered the country, though few if any.

Places like Fargo and Tulsa also offer cheaper housing. Average rent for one bedroom Apartment in Fargo $730 a month, less than a third of what’s in Fremont. The average rent in Tulsa is $760.

‘Support is essential’

But some have concerns about sending Afghans to places where familiar faces are scarce and prejudice is more common.

In Michigan, which is planned to receive at least 1,280 refugees, stickers with the racist message “Afghan Refugee Hunting Permits” were made. sent By the Proud Boys, a white supremacist group in Ann Arbor.

John Bennett, chairman of the state Republican Party in Oklahoma, issued a message. Facebook video He lectures on the dangers of Sharia, the Islamic legal code, and accuses refugees of being terrorists, without proof.

In the video, Mr. Bennett said, “Oklahomans, I advise you to call and email the governor, call your legislators and email them: Don’t let Afghan refugees enter Oklahoma.”

“We will see Islamophobia. We will see xenophobia,” said Spojmie Nasiri, an Afghan immigration lawyer living near Fremont. “We’re already seeing it.”

But Mr Markell said most communities, including those with conservative, Republican leanings, were very welcoming. It counts on the country’s veterans, who overwhelmingly embrace Afghans.

“When they are as vocal as they are, it helps a lot with elected officials on both sides,” said Mr Markell.

Despite a higher cost of living and fewer available jobs, established Afghan enclaves like Fremont can provide a much-needed support network, lawyers say.

The International Rescue Committee, which operates a resettlement office in Oakland, California, near Fremont, said it had formed committees on housing, health, case management and legal issues even before the mass evacuation from Kabul this summer. The Oakland office expects at least 600 to 700 Afghan refugees to be resettled in the area.

Those who go to Fremont will find a range of services available, thanks to the presence of an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 Afghans in the city: adult schools to teach them English; mental health services for people in Afghanistan; and unofficial assistance from mosques in the area.

Some local banks in Fremont are partnering with the city to provide financial coaching.

“This support is critical,” said Jordane Tofighi, manager of the Oakland office. “Some of the local mosques are delivering food. Some markets have food delivery hours.”

Fremont also has social service agencies, including the Afghan Coalition, which has been serving the community’s Afghan residents for decades. Working for the organization, Mizgon Darby is putting pressure on resettlement agencies, local governments and the state to provide more funding for the latest wave of refugees.

“The question is, in these different areas where they are placed, who is the designated agency that assists them in these situations?” Ms. Darby said during an interview she did in the Fremont office recently. “Who will go for them or help them navigate?”

Mr. Karimi, baker at Fremont market, said he is hopeful the latest wave of refugees will find the support they need to thrive in their new country. He said he owed people like him to support the newcomers with jobs, money, and incentives.

“If they want my blood,” he said, promising to help the newcomers as tears flowed from his face, “I’ll give them my blood.”