Investing in Advocacy
When thousands of Afghans were evacuated from Kabul in August of 2021, our team pivoted to allocate some of our time and resources to assist those individuals fleeing the Taliban. Although many of these clients were successful and accomplished in Afghanistan, overnight they became among the most vulnerable here in the United States. RILA was able to assist these Afghan refugees without any language support because of their education and English proficiency.
We were so grateful when those Afghans we first helped, eagerly volunteered with RILA to ensure that more Afghans received immigration legal assistance. These clients-turned-volunteers were amazing and made themselves as available as they could, given that they were also grieving all that they had lost, adjusting to a new culture and trying to support their families. But as the situation shifted, Afghans who were left behind in Afghanistan made their way to America, first through the U.S. southern border and later through the Humanitarian Parole program. Fewer of the more recent immigrants speak English, and RILA’s need for language services grew to a point beyond what our Afghan volunteers could meet.
It was at this point that we approached Mclean Presbyterian Church (MPC) with a proposal. We invited them to partner with us to create an Afghan Legal Advocate Fellows Program, mirroring our Legal Advocate Fellows Program, which works with individuals training to become Accredited Representatives through the Department of Justice. The program would cover the cost of hiring an Afghan individual with language skills and an interest in immigration law to assist with our Afghan cases. MPC graciously funded the program for a year, and provided candidates with the appropriate language skills.
It is through this program that we have welcomed Masheed Obaidi to our team. Masheed graduated with a degree in law from Kabul University just months before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. Dedicated to helping all immigrants access immigration pathways for which they are eligible, she has been a tremendous asset to RILA – interpreting for client meetings, translating documents and mastering complicated immigration forms.
Masheed says, “As an Afghan refugee in the United States, I find great fulfillment in using my language and legal skills to support others who have faced similar challenges. The encouragement and expertise of my kind colleagues have been instrumental in helping me develop crucial legal and communication skills, which are essential for my career growth here.”
We are incredibly grateful to Mclean Presbyterian Church for their investment in Masheed and how this partnership has increased our capacity to care for and represent vulnerable Afghans in our community.