Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Almost exactly a year ago, Rahima Frogh, her husband and their five children left their homeland and arrived in the U.S.

Frogh’s husband, Hamayoun Ali Babur, got a special immigration visa because of his work for the State Department. It grants permanent residency to Afghans who helped the U.S. during its 20-year war in Afghanistan. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, those who had helped the U.S. were at risk.

“My husband worked with the U.S. people, and he is not safe,” said Frogh, speaking through an interpreter earlier this month at the office of Arrive Ministries in St. Cloud, a refugee resettlement agency. Frogh was there attending a technology class that helps new Americans navigate life in the U.S.

Frogh is grateful her family is safe, and now living in St. Cloud. But she worries about the relatives she left behind.

One of President Donald Trump’s first actions after taking office was an executive order indefinitely suspending the U.S. refugee resettlement program. After Trump’s order, nearly 1,600 Afghans cleared by the U.S. government to resettle in the United States had their flights canceled.

Frogh and her family are settled in a comfortable apartment. Their children — four boys and a girl — all attend St. Cloud schools. The boys play soccer. Their father, who was a software engineer in Afghanistan, is teaching them how to code. 

Life in the U.S. is especially different for their sole daughter, 17-year-old Shabnam. When the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in 2021, it barred girls from attending school above sixth grade. Shabnam couldn’t go to school for two years. 

While she couldn’t attend school, Shabnam taught herself art. Her sketches cover her bedroom walls. Now, she attends St. Cloud’s Tech High School, where she’s a sophomore.

Frogh said her daughter has a better life here.

“I’m happy,” she said. Although living in a new country can be difficult, “it’s good for my kids, because they can go to school and they will have a good future.”

But Frogh said it’s stressful worrying about her family still overseas. That includes her sister still living in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul, who formerly worked for the military. 

Frogh said her sister was in the process of getting approved for a Priority 1 or P-1 visa, which allows Afghan citizens in danger of persecution to be considered for resettlement in the U.S. She had completed most of the required steps, including medical exams, and even sold most of her belongings, so she’d be ready to travel, Frogh said.

Then came Trump’s order pausing refugee resettlement, and a lot of uncertainty.

“We don’t know how long it will take to move out from Afghanistan,” Frogh said. “They don’t provide information for you.”

Frogh also has a brother, who fled to neighboring Pakistan. He has a special immigration visa. But it's not clear when he'll be able to travel to the U.S. And without aid, he’s struggling to pay expenses.

When Frogh heard about Trump’s executive order, she didn’t think the U.S. government would pause resettlement for Afghans.

“Because they promised to the people who worked for them for 20 years,” she said.

For now, her family is in limbo. Frogh said she’s asking the U.S. government not to forget Afghans who risked their lives helping the U.S., whose future and safety are now uncertain.

Politics and Government News

Social Issues

Immigration

Minnesota News

Greater Minnesota

Shows

Morning Edition

NewsPartners

Homepage

Kirsti Marohn

Author

One of President Trump’s first actions after taking office was an executive order indefinitely suspending the U.S. refugee resettlement program. A family living in St. Cloud who fled Afghanistan a year ago worries about relatives left behind.

For a St. Cloud family, Trump’s pause of refugee admissions brings worry for Afghan relatives

Go Deeper.

Like this?