Afghan Refugee Family Resettled in Dallas Faces New Hurdles

So far, dozens of Afghan refugees have resettled in North Texas.

Now, they're facing the harsh reality of starting over in a country they know little about.

For the Safi family, so much has changed in three weeks.

The family of five, including three children ages three, six and eight, left the only home they’d known in Kabul.

They now live in a two-bedroom apartment in Dallas which they moved into last Friday.

NBC 5 was there when volunteers for Refugee Services of Texas set up the apartment last week.

“It is good for me and my family and I'm safe here, and I'm saying all appreciation for American people who helped me,” said Baryalal Safi, a husband and father.

Safi worked as an interpreter for coalition forces for more than a decade.

He and his immediate family made it out of Afghanistan, but now comes new hurdles like finding a job and finding a car to get to work.

He’s also searching for a way to evacuate his brother – who worked with U.S. troops -- from Afghanistan.

Safi said the Taliban has already come to his family’s home looking for his brother.

“He's hiding himself in different places,” Safi said.

Safi showed us his brother's paperwork, says he was cleared to leave Kabul, but couldn't overcome the chaos outside the airport before the U.S. withdrew.

“Everybody knows he's my brother. I'm worried about him and if they find him, they do bad things with him and with his family,” Safi said.

Safi says it’s led to sleepless nights and that he's doing all he can to help his brother, and former co-workers who weren't evacuated.

But, he says coming to America changed his family's life for the better.

His kids, who don't speak any English, will soon start school. His wife is learning the language, too. They’ll call their Dallas apartment home for at least the next six months while they work to get back on their feet.