HOUSTON — Several local organizations are preparing to help some of the people fleeing Afghanistan who are expected to come to Houston.
They said the families have started arriving and they are expecting more than 130 Afghan people.
Images of people running and clinging on to jets in Afghanistan show the desperation that many of these families are feeling.
Some families were lucky to be able to leave right before the Taliban took over.
“So the Afghans that are coming are not refugees, they are considered mostly SID’s special immigrant visa holders. Most case people have some affiliation with the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan,” said Ashley Fay, development director for Refugee Services of Texas.
The YMCA international Services said applying for these special immigrant visas is not an easy process.
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“It requires letters of recommendation, it requires HR letters, who you worked in the military, it requires extensive background check,” said Kerry Spare, program director at YMCA International Services.
Although these families won’t get to choose where they end up, many of them will be sent here to Houston because of the large Afghan population that already lives in the area.
“I anticipate a lot of Afghan families coming because we have a great community here,” Spare said. “We have a lot of business owners, we have a lot of Afghan communities that have been here from before recent. There are apartment complexes where whole Afghan communities live.”
Once they arrive to Houston, they’re given food, housing, and they help them find a jobs, the basic needs to start their life over again.