TUESDAY September 28, 2021: 'EXODUS TO AMERICA' by Pulitzer winning Sacramento Bee Photographer Renee C. Byer and investigative reporter Jason Pohl: They headed to the airport on Aug. 15, the day Taliban fighters stormed into Kabul, took control of the presidential palace and toppled Afghanistan's government. As panic and uncertainty swept the city, Abdul and his family boarded a plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport. ''Flight attendants announced, tighten our belts, then we will fly soon,'' Abdul said through an interpreter. The family, Abdul's wife and six of their children who range in age from 4 years old to 20, obeyed along with hundreds of other people onboard Qatar Airways flight 7323. ''And then nothing happened.'' Welcome to: 'EXODUS TO AMERICA'
© zReportage.com Story of the Week #807: TUESDAY September 28, 2021: 'EXODUS TO AMERICA' by Pulitzer winning Sacramento Bee Photographer Renee C. Byer and investigative reporter Jason Pohl: They headed to the airport on Aug. 15, the day Taliban fighters stormed into Kabul, took control of the presidential palace and toppled Afghanistan's government. As panic and uncertainty swept the city, Abdul and his family boarded a plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport. ''Flight attendants announced, tighten our belts, then we will fly soon,'' Abdul said through an interpreter. The family, Abdul's wife and six of their children who range in age from 4 years old to 20, obeyed along with hundreds of other people onboard Qatar Airways flight 7323. ''And then nothing happened.'' Welcome to: 'EXODUS TO AMERICA'

Afghan refugee ABDUL, left, who worked security for the U.S. Embassy, is helped by his oldest son RASHED, 20, as both OMAR MUSTAFA, center left, and AHMADALLAH AHMADI, center right, of Lao Family Community Development, look for other Afghan families arriving at Sacramento International Airport.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan refugees ABDUL, 46, and his youngest son ABDULLAH, 4, push a luggage cart belonging to their family of eight past a sign reading 'Welcome to Sacramento International Airport.' Their harrowing journey began the day before after the Taliban captured the city of Kabul, where Abdul had worked providing security to the U.S. embassy. 'I thought our lives are in danger,' he said.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Former Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holder OMAR MUSTAFA of Lao Family Community Development, pushes luggage with newly arrived Afghan SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) holder ABDUL, left, towards Abdul's family of eight at the Sacramento International Airport. The family will have to go to a hotel because of the housing shortage in Sacramento.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

After 10 p.m. Afghan refugee RASHED, 20, leads his family of eight through a parking deck at Sacramento International Airport toward a Lao Family Community Development van that will transfer them to a hotel after evacuating Sunday from Kabul after stops in Qatar and Washington D.C.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

With the possessions that his family had managed to bring from Afghanistan on carts, ABDUL chats with NAIMANTULLAH SULTANI, far right, of the resettlement agency Lao Family Community Development, which picked up the family at Sacramento International Airport. Sultani also came to the U.S. from Afghanistan with a Special Immigrant Visa in 2019.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan refugees ISTORAY, 15, left, her mom ADELA, center and sister SURAYA, 18, show mixed emotions as they board a Lao Family Community Development van after arriving in Sacramento. The family began their journey in Kabul just days before, as the Taliban took control of their homeland. The resettlement organization had less than 24 hours to prepare for the arrival of the family.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan refugee ABDUL, right, looks over his family's passports as the manager of the America's Best Value Inn, left, unlocks the door to register the family of eight into two rooms, as Lao Family Community Development caseworker AHMADALLAH AHMADI, center, helps with with his families resettlement in North Highlands. With the housing crisis in Sacramento a hotel stay was the only option because Lao resettlement agency had less then 24-hours to prepare for their arrival.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan refugees ZULAIKHA, 13, left, and her sister ISTORAY, 15, the daughters of Abdul, a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) holder who worked for the U.S. Embassy as security for the past 19 years, arrive late at night to America's Best Value Inn in North Highlands. The family left a home they co-owned with an uncle and sold their car so that each family member could afford the medical exams in Afghanistan to evacuate to the U.S.
© Renee C. Byer/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan refugees ZULAIKHA, 13, right, her sister HASIBA, 8, left, and brother RASHED, 20, center, settle into their room after walking past bags of garbage, a strong smell of marijuana, and a battered doorway in North Highlands. Normally it would be customary for them to take off their shoes before entering a living space but they all chose not to after seeing the condition.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

After gently knocking on America's Best Value Inn door OMAR MUSTAFA KARAMKHIL, a case worker at Lao Community Development, discovered Abdul's family who had traveled to Sacramento on a Special Immigrant Visa from Afghanistan the night before were disappointed with the substandard accommodations and had left to spend the day at a cousin's house in North Highlands.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

ABDUL's family members listen to an orientation by Lao Community Development case worker OMAR MUSTAFA KARAMKHIL, left, also a Special Immigrant Visa holder, inside Abdul's cousin's apartment in Sacramento. After spending ten days in a hotel they moved into their cousin's apartment complex on Sept. 1.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Behind a worn banister at America's Best Value Inn in North Highlands, Afghan refugee ZULAIKHA, 13, plays on a tablet computer, a few days after arriving in the United States. Her father Abdul said the family will enroll their children in school once they are vaccinated.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Sitting in a cramped North Highlands hotel room, ABDULLAH snacks on a cracker as his father ABDUL talks about the fear he felt as their plane sat for hours on tarmac at the Kabul airport as Afghanistan's government fell to the Taliban. The first thought Abdul said he had upon landing in the U.S. was 'I feel safe.'
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

BEHSHTA, 21, holds a school picture showing her youngest sister Neda, 9, second from left in top row, as she worries in their Arden Arcade bedroom whether his sisters will return from Afghanistan. She said the schools call every day asking when Neda, of Dyer-Kelly Elementary School and Sabrina, 15, of Encina High School, will return to class. The family explained that they are in hiding from the Taliban and can't get to the airport. It's unclear exactly what their path back to California might be. Dozens of students from San Diego County were also in Afghanistan in recent days and have gradually been evacuated back to the U.S. An untold number remain missing.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee via ZUMA Press Wire

HUMAIRA, 21, wipes tears after explaining her mother is still in Afghanistan at a meeting at Mira Loma High School in Arden Arcade, to help families assist relatives affected by the Taliban takeover of the country. Home to more than 1,400 students who are Afghan refugees, San Juan Unified School District school district officials know there are Sacramento-area kids stranded in Afghanistan. It's unclear exactly what their path back to California might be.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee via ZUMA Press Wire

Mira Loma High School teacher JOSHUA STINSON leads a discussion, to help students who might have family members still in Afghanistan to better understand the law and how to fill out paperwork to help them evacuate the country. Discussions in the meeting included adding qualified family members to the Afghanistan evacuation contact database, connecting with the U.S. Embassy for flights and evacuations, and contacting members of Congress to rally support for Afghans who need assistance. Home to more than 1,400 students who are Afghan refugees, San Juan Unified School District school district officials know there are Sacramento-area kids stranded in Afghanistan.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee via ZUMA Press Wire

KATHY CHAO ROTHBERG, executive director of Lao Family Community Development, listens to Afghan refugee NAIMATULLAH SULTANI, right, a member of her resettlement team. Sultani came over on a Special Immigrant Visa in 2019 and is one of several SIV's working for her that understand the resettlement process. Rothberg said she prefers to resettle refugees in permanent housing not hotels when they arrive. She would like federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 to support a more permanent solution so she could buy apartment complexes or hotels with appropriate amenities. Then the resettlement hotel money would not be wasted and the refugees would have stability from the start, she said.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan refugee ABDUL stands with his family in the new apartment complex. Back row: ISTORAY, 15, RASHED, 20, SURAYA, 19, wife ADELA, 41. Front row: HASIBA, 8, ABDULLAH, 4, and ZULAIKHA, 13. The family left Afghanistan Sunday August 16, arriving in Sacramento on that following Monday, fleeing the Taliban that had just taken control of Kabul.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghan Special Immigrant Visa holder ABDUL prays in his new apartment. He said, through son Rashed's translation, that he was praying for a good life in America for his family, and peace for those who remained in Afghanistan. 'No bombs, no fighting' he said.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

ABDULLAH, 4, bounces on a new couch in the living room of a two-bedroom apartment he lives in with his family of eight. In the foreground, a plastic binder holds over a dozen certificates and commendations for his father Abdul, who came to the U.S. on a Special Immigrant Visa after serving as security for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul for 19 years.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire

Afghans HASIBA, 8, and her brother ABDULLAH, 4, improvise with a basketball as they play soccer in front of a cousin's apartment in the same complex they are now living in Sacramento. Hesiba, who will continue school in Sacramento, said she wants to work in law enforcement when she grows up. 'I like police,' she said with a big smile.
© Renee C. Byer/Sacramento Bee/ZUMA Press Wire