The Foreign Service Journal, March 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2022 59 bution, translating in the clinic. After almost eight days, still my name had not shown up on the list. People who came with no documents, their names came on the list. I asked why, and they told me, “Homeland Security hasn’t approved you yet, so you have to wait.” After eight days, I got approved. I made it to the air- port in Philadelphia on Sept. 5 with my family. We came in, we got the two-year stamp for humani- tarian parole. We were moved to Fort Dix military base in New Jersey to complete the medical exam; I expected to be there for months. But a veteran in Colorado (who I had worked with in 2006-2007), his family and the com- munity there said: “We won’t leave you there.” c Congressman Joe Neguse, Congressman Jason Crow, the fam- ily of veteran Captain Scott Henkel, [town councilwoman] Heidi Henkel and the family, they all helped, and they pulled me out of there. They raised funding. They found me a house, and they brought me here to Colorado. Yet if you go online to where you can search for the sta- tus of your visa case, my SIV is still refused. Now I’m here with a parole visa that ends in two years. I left everything in Afghanistan. I only had one backpack when I came here. On Sept. 15 of this year, they went and blew up my house in Panjshir because I was working with the U.S. government. Imag- ine if I was there, if I was not able to get out, still waiting for my SIV. What would have happened? I have so many awards, from the Secretary of State and from many ambassadors. The Meritorious Honor Award. The Extra Mile Award for working extra hours for the 4th of July, for the U.S. presi- dential visit of Barack Obama to Afghanistan, for visits of senators to Afghanistan. For 20 years, two decades of war, work, dedication, honesty, everything, they deny my SIV. That hurts a lot. I’m trying to apply for my green card, and my lawyer says I have all the documents, but my SIV case still says refused. I do not know how to get it reviewed and change the status so I can apply for my green card. I need that for work. I’m looking for a job. Siddiqi family at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, August 2021. COURTESYOFAHMADKHALIDSIDDIQI Son of Ahmad Khalid Siddiqi resting in transit to the U.S., at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, on Aug. 28, 2021. AHMADKHALIDSIDDIQI I had contacts in the United States; imagine the situation for people who do not have any contacts. Daughter of Ahmad Khalid Siddiqi at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, Aug. 25, 2021. AHMADKHALIDSIDDIQI