The Afghan Women Left Behind: Gender And U.S. Immigration

Speaker A: Welcome to the Waves Slates podcast about gender and the exhausting complexities of immigrating to the US. Speaker A: Every episode this month, you’ve had me, cat Chow, talking to someone smart about something I can’t get out of my head. Speaker A: This is the last episode of the month where I’m in the host seat. Speaker A: So if you’ve enjoyed my other interviews, how about giving The Waves all the stars wherever you rate your podcasts not to be thirsty, but to be thirsty? Speaker A: Maybe you can leave a comment like I love cat chow, or Cat chow is amazing. Speaker A: Just some suggestions. Speaker A: Who knows? Speaker A: Maybe they’ll bring me back. Speaker A: So there’s this story that Politico magazine published recently that’s been on my mind. Speaker A: It’s about a family from Afghanistan, these parents and their children, and they’ve been seeking resettlement in the United States, but have been stuck in a bureaucratic limbo for mean. Speaker B: They have two precocious little girls, know are kind of rambunctious and would be extremely constrained under the Taliban if they were to still live there. Speaker B: In addition to that coming to America, both the parents, for example, grew up in most of their lives were spent under American occupation, so they are very familiar with the promises that American life makes. Speaker A: That’s the reporter who wrote the story, Tanvi Misra, who disclaimer. Speaker A: She’s also one of my very good friends. Speaker A: We’re going to unpack the ways her reporting on immigration also overlaps with gender. Speaker A: But first, before we get to that, some backstory. Speaker A: September 11, 2001. ADVERTISEMENT Speaker C: And about five minutes ago, as I was watching the smoke, a small plane, it looked like a propeller plane, came in from the west and about 20 or 25 stories below the top of the center disappeared for a second and then exploded behind a water tower. Speaker C: So I couldn’t tell whether it hit the building or not, but it was very visible that a plane had come in at a low altitude and appeared to crash into the World Trade Center. Speaker A: If you were around then and old enough, you probably remember where you were when you heard about the planes hitting the Twin Towers. Speaker A: I was in 6th grade, and I remember our teachers gathering me and my fellow students into this common area, and we sat cross legged on the floor when they told us about what happened. Speaker A: I remember the clips afterward of the crashes on Loop. Speaker A: And then also there was President George W. Speaker A: Bush’s response in that infamous speech. Speaker C: And the world has come together to fight a new and different war, the first, and we hope the only one of the 21st century. Speaker C: A war against all those who seek to export terror and a war against those governments that support or shelter them. Speaker A: The US occupation of Afghanistan lasted for two decades, until August 2021, right in the middle of the Pandemic, president Biden announced that the US. Speaker A: Was withdrawing its troops. Speaker C: The United States will begin our final withdrawal. Speaker C: Begin it on may 1 of this year. Speaker C: We’ll not conduct a hasty rush to the exit. Speaker C: We’ll do it responsibly, deliberately and safely, and we will do it in full coordination with our allies and partners who now have more forces in Afghanistan than we do. For more information, visit us at https://www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com/.