Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban desperate to find homes in Stanislaus County
Abdul, an evacuee from Afghanistan, said he left the country so quickly in August that he didn’t have many fantasies about his adopted country.
For five months, the Afghan national has stayed in a hotel in Turlock with his wife and 3-year-old son as they try to clear the first big hurdle: finding a home in the competitive rental market in Stanislaus County.
About the only playground for their son is the parking lot of the Comfort Inn Suites, where the father watches him like a hawk.
The International Rescue Committee in Turlock has helped to bring 623 people from Afghanistan to Stanislaus County from the big airlift that followed the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul on Aug. 15.
Of those, 508 are under the emergency program created for the humanitarian evacuation and 115 are classified as refugees. IRC site director Vivien Jacob said almost 80% of them were able to find permanent housing here, leaving 131 who are still looking and remain in hotels or Airbnb units. The number of new arrivals does not include data of a second resettlement agency in the county.
IRC’s Turlock office was understaffed when the evacuees started arriving in late 2021.
Jacob said the influx came all at once in November, December and January. The Turlock office was light on staffing because of Trump administration actions in 2020 to lower the cap on refugee resettlement in the U.S.
“We did not have enough staffing for the number of arrivals from Afghanistan,” Jacob said.
It took longer than usual to screen the evacuees. Abdul said when his family arrived, the newcomers complained they couldn’t reach caseworkers by phone.
The IRC especially needed staff members who could speak the languages of those coming from Afghanistan. Jacob said a couple of employees quit within two weeks of being hired.
Jacob said housing is the major challenge for IRC’s new clients. She said property owners prefer applicants who have a rental and employment history in this country.
Abdul said Wednesday that he thinks he has a solid application for a home in Modesto. He said he aimed higher for a rental house that’s a couple of hundred dollars above his original budget.
Leaving Afghanistan
Abdul, who asked not to reveal his last name, said it wasn’t safe to stay in Afghanistan under Taliban rule because of his work for the U.S. military.
He was filling out paperwork for a special immigration visa at noon Aug. 15. Abdul said he burned the documents at 2 p.m. when it was clear the Taliban had seized control of the capital city of Afghanistan.
Family members were able to get on a flight leaving Afghanistan. The family was separated for months when Abdul was assigned to service in Kuwait; his wife and son stayed at a base in Virginia.
About 26 refugee families have stayed temporarily in the Comfort Inn in Turlock. They soon were using bicycles to get around. Abdul pedaled two miles to work a temporary job at The Home Depot.
Abdul, like other evacuees who crowded onto flights out of Afghanistan, will need to clarify his immigration status. He said he faces a choice between continuing an application for an SIV or seeking asylum, which could take years.
Jacob said those with pending SIV applications are better to continue that process and asylum should be the last resort.
Evacuees will be searching for documents to prove who they are, provide evidence of their work in Afghanistan or provide what’s needed for a green card. Many of the evacuees being resettled were granted “humanitarian parole,” which entitles them to temporary benefits.
Six months in hotel room
Shiraz Noorani, another evacuee, first stayed at a military base in Indiana before coming to Turlock on Jan. 8. He has lived in a hotel room with his mother and two sisters for almost six months.
Noorani said it’s frustrating. The hotel room doesn’t have a kitchen. But it’s nothing compared to the horrifying experience of getting into Kabul airport during the evacuation in August, eventually leaving on a flight Aug. 26, he said.
Noorani was a journalist in Afghanistan, but he has chosen a new path as a graduate student research assistant at UC Merced. He said he’s confident of a new lead he has for a rental home.
Jacob said the Turlock IRC office has a 44-member staff, plus seven or eight vacant positions. The office is looking for additional volunteers to assist refugees with the resettlement process.
People are encouraged to donate household supplies or gift cards. The IRC office can be reached at 209-667-2378.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 8:49 AM.
