Aid Prince and Arzo's Path to a New Life

The cover picture for this fundraiser exemplifies the man I've known for 15 years. He is now stuck in Pakistan trying to start the family he has risked so much and worked so hard for. I met this man when he was a fearless boy, serving alongside me in Afghanistan to make a better life for his family and people. Although young of age, he was my interpreter of choice for communicating sensitive information with the Afghan security forces that my team was partnered with. Because of his trustworthiness and unwavering commitment, I sponsored him for a special immigration visa to the United States. While he flourished here, tragically his home country of Afghanistan did not. When the Taliban swept across Afghanistan and our forces withdrew, he selflessly traveled back to Afghanistan to save his 9 family members that had remained behind. This picture is of him holding a child in the group for which he helped to find temporary sanctuary in northern Afghanistan when the air evacuation route in Kabul had closed. After over a month of waiting under constant fear and threat of retaliation, that group made it out of Afghanistan on a humanitarian flight arranged outside of US governmental channels. I had hoped that was his last mission. He successfully settled his 9 family members in the US, working long hours to financially sustain them while simultaneously earning a college degree at the University of California in San Diego and earning his US citizenship. But family roots and traditions run deep and in the endless toil of support, the heart of a young man can yearn for his own family. He had another mission. Although he understood the difficulties, he had never been beaten before and when he found his match, a fair young woman in Afghanistan, he further strived to secure her passage to the country he now calls home. After a distant marriage, for two years he worked to gain her immigration to the US. When it was clear that this would be his final chance to bring her home, he secured her safe passage into Pakistan and met her to celebrate what was assumed to be the final declaration of her freedom, an approval of immigration to the US. Unfortunately, the US State Department letter was one of denial instead of approval. Returning to Afghanistan is not an option and financially they are stranded. He spent the thousands of dollars he'd saved over 2 years on airline tickets, customs fees, and immigration lawyers just to get his beloved Arzo to Pakistan. The country that he valorously served and gained citizenship in, which left his family behind, that he continues to want to call his home, is not compelled to help him. I don't believe that. I believe that this country is full of people who welcome people like him, they want him and his family to thrive and to start a family that adds another square to the quilt of cultures we call America. Our country knows him as Abdullah, but when I was in Afghanistan, we knew him as Prince. Please help this prince of a man with the financial resources that will enable him the means to find a solution, like he has done so many times before, for a safe space where he and his wife can start their own family.

All funds will go directly toward Prince & Arzo's food, transportation, lodging, and legal fees incurred while continuing this arduous journey.