A Welcome Circle Helps a Journalist’s Family Start a New Story

In 2015, when Hasan* and his wife Fatima* graduated from college in Kabul, they felt tremendous hope for their country. Hasan found work as a print and online journalist, publishing dozens of investigations into government corruption, environmental issues, political radicalism, and the lives of religious minorities. Fatima, a communications professional, worked with the U.S. government. Industrial, cosmopolitan, and hardworking, they regarded themselves as credits to Afghanistan — an important part of their country’s future. 

Six years later, everything changed. At first, Hasan couldn’t believe that the Taliban, with their long beards and strange clothes, were returning to power. But there was little time to waste. They fled to Europe, living first in Poland and then Germany, and obtained Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) in November 2024 after three years of waiting. Hasan and Fatima were scheduled to fly to the United States to begin their new lives in February 2025.  

Then, President Trump, in his first week of office, signed an executive order suspending the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). All resettlement flights were canceled, and post-arrival support for newly arrived refugees was put on hold. As SIV holders, Hasan and Fatima had one option available to them that other refugees did not after President Trump canceled their flights: they had Afghan passports with a visa foil issued to them, and permission to enter the country if they were able to get to a port of entry. The couple and their young son flew to the U.S. on their own and arrived without the support that the U.S. government usually provides to refugees.  

Not long after arriving, the family, staying in a hotel, found themselves in a daunting situation: hemorrhaging money while searching desperately for a more permanent solution. They reached out to a local HIAS affiliate, who contacted the HIAS Welcome Circle team for assistance. Working together, the affiliate found temporary housing for Hasan and Fatima while HIAS quickly matched them with a circle of volunteers willing to help. 

Consisting of eight members, the circle jumped into necessary tasks to help the Afghan arrivals land on their feet. They helped them find an apartment, navigate doctor’s appointments, and enroll their four-year-old in a pre-K school. “We’re so grateful for our sponsor circle and for HIAS,” Hasan said.  

Hasan and Fatima are excited about their life in the U.S. Both are looking for work, ideally in journalism and communications, and their son will start kindergarten in the fall.   

“We lost everything in Afghanistan,” Hasan said. “We lost 20 years of progress. But now we hope we can be useful, and beneficial, to America — and that we can give our son opportunities he wouldn’t have had back home.” 

*Hasan and Fatima are assumed names used to protect the clients’ anonymity.