Afghan Americans have a long history of immigrating to the United States, as they have arrived as early as the 1860s. This was around the time when Afghanistan–United States relations were being established. Wallace Fard Muhammad claimed to have been from Afghanistan. A World War I draft registration card for Wallie Dodd Fard from 1917 indicated he was living in Los Angeles, California, as an unmarried restaurant owner, and reported that he was born in Shinka, Afghanistan in 1893. Between the 1920s and 1940s, hundreds of Afghans immigrated to the United States. Between 1953 and early 1970, at least 230 lawfully entered the United States. Some of them were students who had been granted scholarships to study in American universities.
The first arrivals of Afghan families in the early 1980s were mainly the wealthy and from the urban and educated elite. They had rightfully applied for refugee status while temporarily residing in Pakistan and India, and a large number had similarly resided in Germany before their firm resettlement in the United States. The family reunification program brought in less affluent communities from rural Afghanistan, many of which were illiterate and maintained a more traditional village lifestyle.
Post September 11, 2001, the Afghan American community faced discriminations. President Bush's plan to legalize works to help the economy came to a halt after the terror attack in 2001. It interrupted talk of legalizing immigrants thus leading to few admitted immigrants from 2001 to 2005. 406,080 immigrant visas were issued in 2001. 395,005 were issued in 2005 according to the Department of Homeland Security.
A news reporter in 2001 randomly stated, without providing any references or sources, that there were 200,000 Afghan Americans. This wild assumption probably included Afghan Canadians. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were approximately 65,972 Afghan-Americans in 2006. The American Community Survey (ACS) estimated a total of 94,726 Afghan foreign-born immigrants were residing and working in the United States in 2016, which shows a 30% increase in the last ten years. Since 2005, thousands of Afghans have been admitted to the United States under the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program. Congress passed the Afghan Allies Protection Act of 2009, which was extended in 2014. Afghans who had put their lives at risk during the US-led war in Afghanistan became eligible for SIVs. This program for Afghans created a legal pathway towards U.S. citizenship for the recipients and their immediate family members.
Evacuations of 2021
Afghan refugees resettled per 100K residents after the 2021 Afghan withdrawal and evacuation in each U.S. state and the District of Columbia according to CBS News
Large numbers of Afghans, including those that worked with the United States, moved to the country following the Taliban take over of Kabul in August 2021.
Of the more than 100,000 Afghan nationals who have moved to the United States since August 2021, it has accepted more than 1,600 unaccompanied children, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement records show.
As many as 150,000 Afghans who assisted the United States remained in Afghanistan, including individuals who worked closely with US military forces.
Discrimination of Refugees
Afghans who went through resettlement difficulties may experience discrimination, worsening the trauma. Afghans still continue to flee from Afghanistan and still struggle to find refuge, most recently on July 15 Canada had closed its Special Immigration Measures Program. Afghans who were relying on this program may face death or persecution due to being stuck in Afghanistan, especially since this program targeted former employees of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Governments and their families.
Culture
Qabuli Palau, is a traditional rice dish topped with sweet carrots, raisins, sliced almonds and served usually with lamb, beef or chicken.
Traditional dish aushak served at an Afghan restaurant in California
As other immigrants in the United States, Afghan Americans have gradually adopted the American way of life. But many of those who were born in Afghanistan still highly value Afghan culture. For example, they often wear at home Afghan clothes, watch Afghan shows, listen to Afghan music, eat mostly Afghan food, and enthusiastically keep up with Afghan politics. They also value their oral tradition of story telling. The stories they sometimes tell are about MullahNasreddin, Afghan history, myths and religions.
Afghan Americans celebrate August 19 as Afghan Independence Day, which relates to August 1919, the date when Afghanistan became fully independent after the signing of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty. Small festivals are held in cities that have Afghan communities, usually at the parks where black, red and green colored Afghan flags are spotted around cars. Eid and Nowruz remain popular festivals for Afghans. The 2021 American sitcom United States of Al featured American and Afghan culture.
A The Washington Post article from October 2001 claims that the Afghan-American community, "concentrated in the towns of Fremont and Hayward, is in many ways a microcosm of the country that's nearly a dozen time zones away." Various members of the community commented that the Afghan community, following conflicts and divisions at home, are still divided in the United States, but that they all share love for their home country.
Ethnicity and race
Afghan Americans are composed of the various ethnic groups that exist in Afghanistan, which include Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Baloch, and a number of others. Since 1945, Afghan Americans have been officially classified as Caucasians. For U.S. Census purposes Afghans are racially categorized as White Americans. Some Afghan Americans, however, may self identify as being Middle Eastern Americans, Central Asian Americans or Asian Americans. In recent years the creation of a new census category called SWANA (which includes Afghan Americans) has been proposed in an effort for more accurate categorization.
There is a community of Afghan Jews in New York City, numbering about 200 families in 2007. A group of Afghan Americans in the Los Angeles area follow Christianity. Hussain Andaryas is an Afghan Christian televangelist who belongs to the Hazara ethnic group. Outside of the Abrahamic faiths, there exists a community of Afghan Hindus and Afghan Sikhs. They are mainly found in the states of New York and Maryland.
Media
Afghan Americans have formed media outlets dedicated for its diaspora. Examples include television channels such as Ariana Afghanistan, Payam-e-Afghan, Tuti TV, and Pamir TV. In the 1990s, Afghanistan TV broadcast on KSCI Channel 18 in Los Angeles and as well as magazines like the Afghanistan Mirror. Many organizations have also been formed for Afghan youth, solidarity, women's rights and more. Recently a new radio station has also launched named Radio Afghan Los Angeles. In 2020, "Afghanistan by Afghans" a TV show and podcast was started by Misaq Kazimi, showcasing the voices of Afghan artists, thinkers and cultural keepers. The show is also showcased on Zarin TV.
Demographics
Immigration
According to estimates from the Migration Policy Institute website for 2017 - 2021, there were 118,500 Afghan immigrants in the USA. The counties or county-equivalents with the most Afghan immigrants were as follows:
Afghan Immigrant Population by County or County-Equivalent
Many Afghan Americans own real estate in Afghanistan, which in some cases have been lawfullyinherited from their earliest ancestors for generations upon generations. Afghan Americans who arrived before the 21st century are mostly found residing near other middle class Americans. Some may be found living in the upper middle class neighborhoods and earning high salaries.
Because the majority of Afghan Americans were originally admitted as refugees under 8 U.S.C.§ 1157, the government provided various forms of assistance (welfare) and selected their city of residence. Some[quantify] decided to move to other cities that had larger Afghan communities but most remained in the cities where they first arrived. They gradually left the government assistance programs and eventually mortgaged homes. Their children were sent to colleges or universities. Those who could not achieve this decided to build or franchisesmall businesses. Others became real estate agents, bank employees, office workers, hotel workers, store clerks, salespersons, security guards, drivers, mechanics, waiters, etc.
Like many other immigrants in the United States, Afghan Americans often engage in the operation of small businesses. Many operate American and Afghanrestaurants as well as Afghan markets, while some have been reported in the 1990s as vendors in Manhattan where they have replaced Greek Americans in the field.
Afghan immigrants that were admitted to the United States before 1979 were well educated. In contrast, current immigrants have escaped from totalitarianism, genocide, torture, persecution, mistreatment, and military conflicts. This group has had some trouble coping with learning the English language. Those who have pursued their education in America during the middle of the 20th century and traveled back to Afghanistan faced trouble attaining employment when returning to the United States since their education, often in medicine and engineering, is frequently viewed as outdated. After the 1979 Soviet invasion, Afghanistan's education system worsened, causing many migrants in the late 20th century to place less emphasis on educational attainment.
Hafizullah Emadi (born Shibar), independent scholar and development consultant for Focus Humanitarian Assistance
Safi Rauf at the Kabul International Airport with WFP after the fall of KabulSafi Rauf (born 1994) – 2021 Washingtonian of the Year, TED fellow, Tillman scholar, Georgetown graduate, Navy reservist, and the founder of Human First Coalition
Nadia Abdul Geib - Served in the United States Marine Corps during Operation Enduring Freedom in the GWOT era as an intelligence chief and the owner of BlackRock Transportation, among others.
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