Trying to help an Afghan refugee

July 16, 2024 4:35 AM

Background: Afghan woman with degree from Kerat University and (LLM) from a US law school returns to Kabul, but flees to UAE, then sent to Houston, after traumatizing Taliban takeover. Her LLM school snags 1-year contract for her as “scholar in residence” with a private rural law school, later extended by maximum 6 months.

At point of termination, clueless local family is prevailed upon by church to offer 6 weeks of free lodging in a house they are preparing to sell. But she is technically homeless at this point, although she has a credit card and a banking account.

It becomes clear after 2 weeks that she will do nothing to follow up with long-term problem-solving efforts on her behalf (focused on getting her into one of specialized resource communities elsewhere), and continues to cultivate sympathy with locals in hopes of another rescue. Her P1 visa has expired but she has refugee status, awaiting a hearing. She has applied for minimum-wage jobs that would not come close to paying rent here, but no luck so far).

What are the options for her uneasy hosts? Where would campus security have left her, after picking up her belongings on her last day there? This is not a tenant-friendly state, but she is a guest, not a tenant.

posted by mmiddle to Law & Government (7 answers total)

As 2 weeks out of 6 weeks is already a third of the time I think you are right to be concerned. Can you find her another place to move to? Maybe the church and locals can find another place. 4 weeks will go fast so if you can start working on finding her another place now, maybe she will have something by then.
posted by halehale at 7:25 AM on July 16 [2 favorites]

Mod note: One comment removed. Please avoid assumptions about the situation and scolding the OP and focus on helping them, thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:41 AM on July 16

Response by poster: The church has lost interest, and other locals are also trying hard to find even short-term strategies for income and housing. We found her a great job (hostessing an Afghan restaurant) but she turned it down and seems about to turn down another “perfect” solution in an Afghan community in a larger city. We will be taking her to DSS to apply for benefits, and maybe have a social worker assigned to her.

Does refugee status override an expired visa?
posted by mmiddle at 8:32 AM on July 16

One thing to consider is that when she left Afghanistan for the last time a lot of the trauma was generated by her fellow countrymen which may be why she's not interested in connecting with those communities right now.
posted by Art_Pot at 9:33 AM on July 16 [7 favorites]

Yes, I'd wonder how safe those options make her feel. You say she's been applying to minimum wage jobs - have those been in the Afghan community? If not, I'd follow her lead on this as to what sorts of surroundings she actually feels comfortable working in, and what work she is interested in doing.

Has she also looked for higher paying work, for example as a tutor or ESL teacher for foreign students in higher ed? A lot of that can be done remotely and with flexible hours, which could make it a supplementary source of income on top of a local job.

Does refugee status override an expired visa?

This is a question for an immigration or refugee lawyer, and you should consult with them too about the legal aspects of working while in her current status.
posted by trig at 10:19 AM on July 16 [2 favorites]

https://houstonimmigration.org/afghanrefugees/

In any case that link provides groups in Houston that can offer more clarity.

Also not sure what you mean by "sent to Houston" Sent by whom?

Also if she is unwilling to do anything for herself then that's on her.
posted by tarvuz at 11:35 AM on July 16

Response by poster: @tarvuz : went from Kabul to UAE, and from there came with a small group of other Afghans (possible common denominator was P1 visas, or refugee status?) to Houston, and from there they dispersed to various points. One family went to California to be with relatives, etc. She was in Houston for 2 months and having nowhere to go, reached out to her LLM school, which sent her resume to random law schools. The university here offered and she relocated here.
posted by mmiddle at 12:21 PM on July 16