Nearly four months after Afghanistan returned to Taliban control, a former U.S. military interpreter has reunited with family here in North Texas.
A private terminal at Love Field completed the journey from Kabul to the promise of a more stable future for Abdul Bahes Safi.
Safi and his family touched down here in Dallas late Friday afternoon after spending more than a month at Biggs Airfield at Fort Bliss Army base in El Paso.
Safi worked with American contractors helping train the Afghan National Air Force. But come late August, Safi and his family were like so many of the estimated 85,000 Afghans desperate to evacuate in the final chaotic days of U.S control of the airport in Kabul.
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Safi, with the help of Marines, was able to get his parents and siblings out of danger. His parents, brother and sister made it to the U.S. in October after 45 days in Germany.
Friday marked the first time he would spend an evening in the home of an older brother who lives in Plano.
“It was a long journey for us, about four months,” Safi said. “Finally, we are at our destination. We are so happy.”
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Housing is still a big issue for many relocated Afghan families.
The evacuation was so hurried in August that many relief agencies did not have permanent housing ready for Afghan families when they arrived. An estimated 37,000 are still living on military bases throughout the U.S., according to a recent analysis from The New York Times.
