SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California’s capital has emerged as a leading destination for Afghan refugees who were awarded special visas because of their service to coalition forces in the war. But life in the United States for them has proven a constant struggle.
These former translators, engineers and doctors awarded Special Immigrant Visas must start over in bug-infested, low-rent apartments with minimum-wage jobs while dealing with PTSD and other health problems, the Sacramento Bee reported (http://bit.ly/2hBy7yv).
More than 2,000 such visa holders and their family members have settled in Sacramento since October 2010, and many of them say they are struggling with anxiety and depression that have developed or been greatly exacerbated by their struggles in the United States. They say they feel helpless and abandoned, lacking decent jobs, housing or an understanding of U.S. culture.
One of them is Faisal Razmal, a former interpreter for U.S. soldiers battling the Taliban in Afghanistan who was shot in the face in front of his Sacramento apartment in August 2015 by an assailant wielding a flare gun. A neighborhood teenager and alleged member of a gang has been charged and is awaiting trial.
Razmal, 28, who lost the sight in one eye after the attack, said he feels like he also lost a piece of his soul.