2025 - Q3

After only two weeks of marriage Fatima was separated from her husband. For almost four years she has remained in Afghanistan, while he has been in Idaho. To join him here, the US needs to grant her a visa. This is her story:

With the utmost respect and a heart full of hope and concern, I write to you today. My name is Fatima, a 24-year-old woman from the Hazara ethnic group in Afghanistan. I am seeking safety, support, and the opportunity to live in peace in the United States due to the grave and dangerous situation in my country.

Since the fall of Kabul and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the lives of Afghan women—particularly Hazara women—have become a constant nightmare. We face daily gender, racial, and religious discrimination, and being Hazara has only heightened the targeting and persecution we endure.

Before these tragic events, I was an active and hopeful woman, pursuing my education and participating in social activities. I married a noble, compassionate, and patriotic man—an officer in the Afghan National Army and a military pilot. Our relationship was built on love, respect, and a shared dream of a peaceful future together.

However, that dream was shattered with the fall of the republic. My husband, due to his military service and collaboration with international organizations, became a direct target of the Taliban. He was forced to flee the country, leaving me behind to face the dangers alone.

Since then, my life has been consumed by fear and constant threat. The Taliban raided our home multiple times, interrogating me about my husband and other relatives who had served in the former government. I was threatened, harassed, and insulted. In order to protect myself, I hid documents related to my husband, changed residences repeatedly, and have lived under a false identity, pretending to be a single woman to avoid detection.

Under the Taliban’s rule, women in Afghanistan are denied even the most basic rights: the right to education, to work, to travel, to use mobile phones, or to appear in public spaces. My life is confined within four walls, but even these walls are filled with fear.

Despite these challenges, I have not given up. I continue to stand firm because I believe every human being—no matter the circumstances—deserves dignity and the right to live in safety. However, as a Hazara woman, the wife of a former military officer, and a member of a persecuted community, I live in constant danger of kidnapping, torture, forced marriage, or even death. I have witnessed young girls in my neighborhood being abducted, beaten for their ethnicity, or forced into marriage with Taliban members.

The world often cannot hear our voices clearly because the Taliban have silenced independent media. Journalists have fled the country or are forced into silence. Freedom of the press is nearly nonexistent, and the stories from within Afghanistan are filtered through layers of censorship and fear.

Since the Taliban’s return, they have imposed over fifty laws against women—laws that strip us of our basic human rights: access to education, the ability to work in government or NGOs, the right to travel without a male guardian, and even the ability to visit parks, sports stadiums, beauty salons, or speak freely on social media or in the press.

These laws have not only discriminated against women; they have paralyzed our lives. We have been excluded from society, stripped of our dreams, our future, and even our identity.

I am writing this letter not out of desperation, but out of hope—hope for justice, compassion, and humanity. My only request is to be allowed to live in safety and begin a new life alongside my husband in a country that upholds human rights and freedom.

I am not a criminal, nor am I a threat. I am simply a woman who has been silenced for being who she is: a woman, a Hazara, and the wife of a soldier. Still, I believe that even in the darkest times, the light of compassion and justice can open a path to freedom.

With that hope in my heart, I send you this letter—with fear, but also with a deep longing for life.

With respect and sincere gratitude,  Fatima

What can we do? 

Money is not a bottleneck. The US just needs to grant Fatima a visa. I recommend continuing to contact our national representation. If you live in Idaho Falls, here is the list:

Senator Mike Crapo

208-522-9779

Email Me | U.S. Senator Mike Crapo

410 Memorial Dr., Suite 204, Idaho Falls, ID 83402

Senator James Risch

208-523-5541

E-mail - James E Risch, U.S. Senator for Idaho

901 Pier View Drive, Suite 202A, Idaho Falls, ID 83402

Representative Mike Simpson

208-523-6701

Contact | U.S. Congressman Mike Simpson - 2nd District of Idaho

1075 S Utah Avenue West #240, Idaho Falls, ID 83402

This is the script that I used. (Make sure to include where you live so they know you are a constituent.)

My name is Joe Mitchell, and I live in Idaho Falls. I’m contacting you to express support for reuniting families of our Afghan military allies who were separated by the fall of Kabul. Four of the six families who live in Southeast Idaho  have been reunited. Thank you! My wife and I spend time with all of them frequently, and they are the kind of hard-working, optimistic people that any community is fortunate to have.

But after almost four years, two more families are still separated. The military pilots live in Ammon, Idaho and are also your constituents. They both have fulltime jobs and attend CEI. One is waiting for the Dept of State National Visa Center to process his wife’s case. The other is waiting for the USCIS to process the I-730 petition for his wife and three year old daughter. They have both been waiting for years, while their wives remain in danger in Afghanistan.

A comprehensive national solution would be to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act. But even without that,  processing individual reunification case files will have dramatic life-changing consequences for these families. Please help your constituents by encouraging the USCIS and NVC to expedite their cases.

If you would like to discuss this further with me, or would like an introduction to the two pilots who are still separated from their families, please contact me at 208-970-0099.

Thank you for your service! 

Conclusion

Idaho Falls Bridge Builders is a local nonprofit whose mission is to assist legal refugees who choose to resettle in the Idaho Falls area. Our quarterly newsletters this year are giving  a voice to Afghan women who have a personal connection to Idaho. 

This newsletter was written by Joe Mitchell. Fatima’s story was used by permission, and does not include her real name or location.  If you want to unsubscribe just reply to this email and tell me.