Against the odds, Afghan family reunites in Las Vegas

Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad, his partner Shabana, mom Nazanin and daddy Abdul state prayers following dinner in their apartment on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesShabana and her mother-in-law, Nazanin, prepare dinner in their home on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesAbdul aims to boy Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad as he teaches English to his nazanin, partner, and mom, Shabana, following dinner in their home on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesAbdul looks to kid Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad as he teaches English to his partner, Shabana, and mother, Nazanin, following supper in their house on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesMohammad "Benny" Shirzad teaches English to his partner and parents following supper in their apartment or condo on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesAbdul aims to boy Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad as he teaches English to his better half, Shabana and mother Nazanin following supper in their apartment or condo on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesAbdul walks with other half Nazanin, daughter-in-law Shabana and boy Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad following dinner in their home on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_ImagesAbdul does some stretches while strolling with partner Nazanin, daughter-in-law Shabana and son Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad following supper in their apartment on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, in Henderson. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Editor's note: This is the fifth story in a periodic series. The Review-Journal agreed to omit some surnames for the security of member of the family still in Afghanistan. For previous stories, check out lvrj.com/benny.

On Presidents Day, an Afghan family separated during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban commemorated how, against all chances, they had actually reunited in Las Vegas.

They had much to commemorate.

Mohammad "Benny" Shirzad, then 26, had gotten here alone in Las Vegas to cope with the moms and dads of the U.S. Air Force captain who, in August 2021, piloted his evacuation flight out of Kabul.

Soon after his arrival, he would spend his first Thanksgiving at the Henderson home of retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Scott Hoffman and his wife, Ellen. The Hoffmans, bothered by the predicament of Afghan allies, made it their objective to assist Shirzad, who had worked for a U.S. government professional, reunite with his better half, Shabana, and moms and dads, Abdul and Nazanin.

Mission achieved. On the Presidents Day vacation, the family planned to celebrate their good luck by going to dinner at a Persian dining establishment. Shirzad had the day off from his brand-new task supplying internet innovation services for a state federal government firm.

As the household talked with a press reporter, they considered the significance of the vacation. Nazanin, who knew it was Presidents Day, thought there was a tradition of using green clothes.

As Soon As Ellen Hoffman, who was visiting the household at their brand-new apartment or condo, described the vacation, Nazanin said she had read about President Abraham Lincoln, "how he was killed which he was a brave guy."

" When you have an interest in a nation, in a place, you will investigate it," stated Nazanin, who had actually watched documentaries and check out books about the U.S. Her son, informed at an Afghan university, equated her remarks.

The household had actually imagined concerning the U.S., she stated, but not like this.

During the disorderly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Shirzad worked as a flight attendant on evacuation flights by an Afghan airline company. As Kabul fell, American soldiers informed him and his crew they remained in risk and to board a U.S. military aircraft to safety.

His other half and moms and dads attempted to join him however were turned away at the gates of the airport, which was under attack. Shirzad was flown to Fort Dix in New Jersey for processing and eventually made his method to Las Vegas.

Last September, Shabana, who with her in-laws left to Pakistan, protected an unusual visa to the U.S. In late January, her in-laws got in the U.S. as humanitarian parolees and signed up with the young couple in Las Vegas.

‘‘ Don't grieve, and do not forget your dreams 'Five years earlier, when Shirzad was working for a U.S. federal government professional in Afghanistan, his life had been threatened and his car chance at. He was told his mother would be abducted if he did not quit working for the Americans.

Nazanin, too, had actually been straight threatened as she took a trip from town to town as a help worker and human rights advocate for nongovernmental companies, according to her application for humanitarian parole.

Ideas she shared in the villages - - that ladies must not be beaten or pushed into marital relationship – – were typically consulted with hostility, the application states.

One man said he would kill her with the scythe in his hand. Some tossed stones at her. Others threatened to burn her, just as they 'd burned banners she 'd hung at election sites.

She told her child that if she were killed, "Please do not grieve, and don't forget your dreams," the application states.

The work she was doing then is forbidden today. The Taliban has actually banned women from working for nongovernment companies, together with many other kinds of work.

Females likewise can no longer attend universities. Once they enter their teenagers, women can no longer go to school.

And the lives of Afghans who assisted Americans are at greater danger.

After their apartment was consistently searched by the Taliban, Nazanin, Abdul and Shabana fled with a few valuables to Pakistan, where they wanted to live in relative freedom till they might concern the U.S. After seeing Taliban there, they hid in their apartment, as they 'd done in Kabul.

Now, Shirzad's moms and dads relish everyday strolls in their Henderson neighborhood. Abdul enjoys seeing both the young and the old, and individuals playing with their pets and having a good time with their families.

" People just state ‘‘ hello' and they don't interrupt you, "Abdul said, his child translating.

He and his partner are focused on learning English. Abdul hopes to get work, and Nazanin to find a neighborhood of women. For now, they are content.

" It's such a satisfaction for us to see that all the people from different countries, from different ethnic cultures, from different religions, that they are living under one flag and one rule here in the United States," Nazanin stated.

Afghans stay in limbo To help reunite the household, the Hoffmans looked for assistance from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and U.S. Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

Each action of the way, it boiled down to the wire, with the household's Pakistan visas due to end or the window ready to close on Shabana obtaining an interview at the U.S. embassy.

" I pressed the administration tough to make sure Benny might reunite with his partner, and I wasn't going to let more government bureaucracy keep him from bringing his moms and dads to safety," Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said in a declaration to the Review-Journal.

Rosen stated in a statement, "I'm pleased to see that - - after months of work to make this a reality - - Benny and his household have actually been safely reunited. … … We must do more as a nation to see that people and their families who supplied vital support to American troops in Afghanistan are able to find security." Lots of Afghans stay in limbo, consisting of some who, like Shirzad's family, escaped to Pakistan.

Days after the household's Presidents Day event, numerous at-risk Afghans protested in Pakistan's capital over the extreme hold-ups in the approval of their U.S. visas.

The U.S. government stated it would fast-track visas for those at increased dangers, including those who had worked for the U.S. federal government, U.S. based media organizations and non-governmental organizations. However, protesters told The Associated Press they had yet to get the preliminary interview required to begin the visa application procedure after waiting in Pakistan for more than a year and half.

Although Shirzad's family made it to the U.S., Nazanin and Abdul need to now navigate a path for permanent residency.

Shirzad and Shabana currently can completely live and work in the U.S. through the variety immigrant program known as the permit lottery game. The couple won the lotto, placing them among the less than half of 1 percent of applications who are randomly picked.

Abdul and Nazanin, who as humanitarian parolees are permitted to stay in the country for two years, are looking for asylum to stay permanently.

The procedure is a hard and long one that needs candidates to record they would be subject to persecution if they went back to their house country, stated Bonnie V. Smith, a migration lawyer with the Legal Aid Center.

It can take 6 to 10 years to receive an asylum interview, she stated, and the outcome doubts.

Shirzad stated, "Our story has actually not ended yet." ‘ The scenario is worsening' Given that August 2021, some 80,000 Afghans have actually been evacuated to the U.S. without Congress enacting legislation to fast-track their long-term residency.

As things stand, Afghans need to apply individually for asylum at a time when there already is an enormous backlog, stated Vance Serchuk, a former senior advisor on national security and foreign affairs to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security.

They may "find themselves in a type of legal limbo or jeopardy - - or even worse, in risk of actually being returned to Afghanistan, which is sensational," stated Serchuk, who serves on the board of the Afghan Future Fund, which supplies support for at-risk Afghans.

The ideal scenario, he said, would be for Congress to take action to regularize the legal status of the evacuees and to honor the country's commitment to Afghans.

" It is incompatible with our national honor to slip far from our responsibilities," said Serchuk, who assisted Shirzad's family in extending their Pakistani visas.

Despite the lots of challenges, Shirzad wants to help other relative in coming to the U.S., consisting of Shabana's parents.

Shabana's mom sobs whenever they have video chats, conversations that have actually become infrequent as internet service has become undependable in Afghanistan.

The country's facilities is collapsing. Individuals, Abdul said, "They do not have electricity. They do not have tasks. And they're starving to death.

" And the situation is becoming worse." As bad as conditions are, some members of Shirzad's evacuated flight team have actually returned to Afghanistan after they were unable to find stable operate in the U.S. or since their households back home required them.

Shirzad said that he is relieved his ongoing research studies have led to much better and much better tasks in Las Vegas so that he can support his household.

That family is growing. The young couple, who were newlyweds before their separation, are now anticipating their very first child, a son.

Shabana's due date is July 5. The family jokes that the infant may arrive on the Fourth of July, providing another reason to commemorate on the vacation.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on Twitter.