Save Mustafa and his children from the Taliban

Hello. My name is Safi. I worked for the US Military in Afghanistan from 2008-2016. I went on missions with the United States Marine Corps in Helmand, Afghanistan - the most dangerous place in the country - every day for many years. The Marines came for one year and left at the end of deployment and then new Marines would come, but I was there for many years.

The reason I took this job was that the recruiters came to my village in Afghanistan in 2008 when the US Military did a troop surge in Afghanistan because the Taliban was getting stronger and they wanted to finish the war. Me and my brother, Mustafa, were recruited. They told my parents that if me and my brother worked for the US Military that we would be able to come to the United States and have a better life for our family.

In 2008, I went to work with the Marine Corps in Helmand Province, and my brother Mustafa went to go work with the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul. In Helmand, I went on missions with the Marines Corps many times. We got shot at, we got blown up by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) - it was a very dangers job and I respect the Marine Corps very much. I worked with some of the elite units of the Marine Corps and sometimes with special forces as well. I met some of the most amazing people of my life. They helped me come to America in 2016.

Through the help of a few of my colleagues I worked with from the Department of Defense, Marines Corps, and Army, I was able to make it to America in 2016. I first moved to McLean, Virginia. At that time, I had a wife and 4 kids that I left in Afghanistan. When I arrived in Virginia, it was very overwhelming - I didn't know how I would learn to drive, improve my English, get a job - it was very scary. Over time, I learned everything. I worked at Wendy's drive through and at Whole Foods stocking the freezer section over night. I lived with 8 roommates in a 1 bedroom apartment. I saved up money, bought myself a Honda Civic, and eventually saved up enough money to move to Texas. In Houston, I worked at a factory, I drove Uber, and I worked security.

Eventually, I worked with my contacts to get the special immigrant visa that I got for myself (a special visa program for interpreters who worked on behalf of the US Government in Operation Enduring Freedom) extended to my wife and 4 children. They arrived in Houston in 2019 and it was the happiest moment of my life. My family was reunited. Since then, we had a 5th child and we are so blessed to be living in this amazing country. THIS IS MY AMERICAN DREAM.

Unfortunately, my brother Safi has not been so lucky. He continued working with ISAF all the way through 2020. But unfortunately, his process did not go as smoothly. His special immigrant visa for Afghans working on behalf of the US Government in Afghanistan was never fully processed. He completed all the same steps as me, but the process was not fully completed. We waited and waited 6 months for each email response and each question - eventually his time ran out.

When the US announced the pull out from Afghanistan, it was one of the worst days of our lives. My brother Mustafa was trapped in Kabul. He couldn't go home to our village because the Taliban know he worked with the US Military. The Taliban visited our old home and threatened my father multiple times - they asked for my brother and his location and threatened to kill my father if he didn't tell them. My father said he didn't know.

Meanwhile, my brother Mustafa is hiding on the outskirts of Kabul with his wife and 7 children. He has been hiding out for a few years now. He does not leave the house for fear of being killed by the Taliban. I send him money from time to time when I can, but life is difficult in Texas with 5 kids - I am working my hardest to support them and my brother and his family at the same time.

We tried everything. We tried to get him a flight out from Kabul in the final moments when the US was pulling out, but a suicide bomber blew himself up at the gate of the airport and made it difficult from them to get out. We tried every contact we had - Marine Corps, Army, State Department, Department of Defense, Delta Force exfiltration - nothing worked and we are now out of options.

The last chance for my brother is to pay a smuggler $25,000 to smuggle him out of Afghanistan to safety. That is why I am doing this GoFundMe campaign.

Unfortunately for Mustafa and his family, the promise that the US Government made to him was never fulfilled. He risked his life for over 10 years, but at the end of the day he is trapped in Afghanistan, labeled a traitor by the Taliban, living in danger daily.

Trust me - we have tried EVERYTHING - this is the last hope for Mustafa and his family. Please consider helping! The community here has a change to deliver on the promise that changed the life of my brother, his wife, his 7 beautiful children, and the lives of our extended family. Thank you.

NOTE: This GoFundMe is being organized by a friend of the family. If any identifying information of the family were to get into the wrong hands (names, ID cards, images, last name), the family members still in Afghanistan would be at serious risk of being killed. Thank you for understanding and for your consideration.