A Dallas Afghan Ex-Pat Welcomes His Refugee Countrymen To Texas

DALLAS, TX — Baktash Haidari's cell phone rings all day every day these days.

The Dallas resident and Afghan immigrant moved to the US in 2016 — nearly six years after beginning his quest to live in America. In Afghanistan, Haidari worked his way up the ranks as an interpreter, until he became a fully armed "badass" with a cadre of American servicemen he now calls cherished friends.

But at the moment, his thoughts are with his fellow Afghans — loved ones either stuck inside his now-Taliban controlled homeland, or, like his four friends in Dubai — stranded, with no idea of when, how or where they'll eventually be welcome.

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"In the chaos and the crowds, all they knew is that they had to get out of the country," Haidari explains, "because their cooperation with the Americans made them a target of the Taliban. And three of my friends now in Dubai have wives and children who they had to leave behind while they ran for their lives."

Over years of working in Afghanistan during the two decades of US occupation, Haidari says he was shocked when the government toppled earlier this month.

"I think the whole reason was political," he says ruefully. "I believe that President Ghani lied to a lot of people, and there were many things going on there that were not right. Of course what I hear from here is rumor, but it's been reported too that generals were ordering their troops not to put up a fight and just surrender to the Taliban.

"We always believed that the Taliban were not strong enough to hold even one province," he says, shaking his head. "We had weapons, we had a good army well trained by the Americans and other coalition forces, so I think it was completely political that the government collapsed without a fight."

On August 16, Reuters reported that the Russian embassy in Kabul said that the Afghan president had abandoned the country "with four cars and a helicopter full of cash," some of which had to be left behind because "it would not all fit."

Just the same, Haidari says he's looking forward to helping his Afghan neighbors resettle as they arrive in North Texas.

"It was pretty easy for me," he muses, "because by the time I got to Dallas, I was already pretty Americanized by spending so much time with them in Afghanistan. I was with American forces most of the time."

But he expects that for many, the culture shock will be something real. "I began in my village, you know, learning computers, Microsoft programs, photoshop, design and things like that. After high school, you take an exam and you say what it is you want to be — a doctor, a teacher, to work in architecture, and there's a very healthy competition that results in where you go from there."

Some 25,000 refugees are expected at four different military installations. They'll be inoculated against COVID-19, and then be resettled.

El Paso's Fort Bliss will be one of the spots where they'll arrive and receive mental health support, travel assistance and medical screenings. But, while the Defense Department is helping to get the refugees to America, private organizations like Refugee Services of Texas take over from there.

Haidari believes the biggest challenge likely to face his fellow Afghans is the American rat race.

"A lot of people there think that every American is rich and that money is on the trees," he says. "That's not true. But what is here is opportunity — for everyone, without discrimination. But you have to work really hard. That is what I would tell them."

That, he concludes, is why he wants to stay and believes many of his fellow Afghans will want to do the same. "I'm still struggling to gain the American Dream," he says. "But it's worth it."

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