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May 28, 2026This year marks the five-year anniversary of the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital city, the beginning of Taliban rule and the end of the United States’ 20-year war.
It marks, too, Oklahoma’s welcoming of many Afghan refugees.
At the end of 2021 and early 2022, Oklahoma resettled nearly 2,000 refugees from Afghanistan. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City was the leading organization helping resettle these families across the state.
Some Afghan families still live in Oklahoma and call it home, working with nonprofits in the area. The Spero Project in Oklahoma City assists the resettled community and provides services like community navigation, employment support, legal advising and adult/youth education programs. The Norman Coalition for Refugee Support is an all-volunteer, interfaith network of seven churches, working together to provide wrap-around support similar to Spero, but for Norman refugees, like housing, education, transportation, guidance to legal professionals and job placement.
Both organizations understand the power of language and refer to the Afghan families fondly.
“It's just true to say that they are our neighbors," said Laura Kirby, director of education at The Spero Project. “It communicates equality in relationships; it communicates care for one another because we receive as much care from neighbors as we give, so it communicates that kind of reciprocal relationship.”
These nonprofits connected the Sooner Catholic with Afghans to learn about their experiences – then and now. Assuring their anonymity, for their own safety, the responses were … revealing.
An Afghan father and former helicopter pilot and translator for the United States military had this to share:
“I felt welcomed when I arrived here. We expected to have an easy and comfortable life, but unexpectedly I faced many hardships, struggles and different kinds of problems. Even now, after spending two and a half years in the United States, I am still dealing with these challenges.
“I want Americans to understand that not all Afghans are terrorists. They are human beings just like Americans. They have families, dreams and they want to live a peaceful and comfortable life. We have significant cultural differences from Americans, and we want our culture to be respected, not mocked.
“My children have learned English very well. They are still afraid in some situations because of discriminatory treatment, and they do not feel comfortable trying to make American friends.
“I will share a short story as an example of this discrimination. One day, it was raining very heavily. My three children could not reach the school bus, so I had to leave work and call my wife to take them to school in our car. Since we did not have an umbrella at home for protection from the rain, I took a blanket so the children would not get wet. When we arrived at the school gate, that gate was closed. I went to another entrance where other children were entering with their parents, so I also tried to enter there. When I reached, a woman told me that I could not enter from that gate and that I had to go to the other gate and wait until it opened. The blanket I had brought for the children was already very wet. I asked her why other children could enter but not mine. In a sarcastic and disrespectful tone, she said, ‘Because you are immigrants, you deserve to suffer.’
“My children heard this conversation and became very scared. After that, they did not want to go to school for a long time.”
Amid the challenges and discrimination, he still said, “the rule of law, safety and the kindness and compassion of some people have been very impressive. I love Oklahoma; it feels like my home and my country.”
An Afghan mother:
“I like the people and driving. People are welcoming to me. I have a nice neighbor who is my friend. My children have friends, they like school, they speak English. It makes me happy.
“It has been hard, but people have helped me learn English. The Norman Coalition helped me have a driving class. The first time was hard, but now I like driving.
“Afghanistan is a great country, but girls can’t go to school; it’s a problem. After sixth grade there is no school for girls. What I like about the United States is my children can go to school, I can go to the store, like Walmart, I can drive, we can go to the park. This state is good.”
Both neighbors, when asked what they missed most about their home country, said “my family.”
The Spero Project offers a unique, in-person opportunity called the 6th Street Experience, to see how different immigration processes work and to learn about the home cultures of neighbors in Oklahoma. The walk-through experience outlines three different immigration processes: The Refugee Journey, Seeking Asylum, and Afghan Placement and Assistance, and includes current information and actions regarding immigration.
When President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, he signed Executive Order 14163, "Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,” which immediately suspended the refugee resettlement program. As a result, Catholic Charities nationwide could no longer work as a resettlement agency, because the federal Reception and Placement program was terminated. There remain thousands of Afghans who helped the American war effort, who are in refugee limbo. More than a thousand have been waiting for more than a year at a holding camp in Qatar.
Recently, according to multiple news sites, the Trump administration announced it is considering sending these refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country currently undergoing its own humanitarian and displacement crises.
In November 2025, Archbishop Coakley was voted president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Immediately following, the USCCB published a letter, a special message, a method rarely used to urgently speak as a collective body of bishops, responding to current times. This time the message spoke against the growing anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies, defending every person’s “God-given human dignity,” including immigrants. Key quotes from the letter include:
“To our immigrant brothers and sisters, we stand with you in your suffering, since, when one member suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:26). You are not alone!”
“We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people. We pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”
Since that letter was published, things have only escalated. In February 2026, Oklahoma faith leaders published their own letter, titled “Love the Sojourner,” a reference to how the Israelites were once strangers in Egypt and the commandment to love your immigrant neighbors, cited multiple times in the Old Testament. Among the initial letter signers were Archbishop Coakley and Bishop David Konderla, of the Diocese of Tulsa.
Congregation B’nai Emunah, a synagogue in Tulsa, serves as the last remaining resettlement agency (RA) for the eastern half of the state, through the only resettlement pipeline that now exists: Program of Initial Resettlement (PIR), and continues to serve refugees in the community who are eligible through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Their Director of Outreach and Refugee Resettlement, Genevieve Rahim, had this to say about the current state of refugees in the United States:
“Refugee resettlement, especially for Afghans, takes time. The systems are set up for someone to become self-sufficient within 90 days, no matter the barriers they face, and this is rarely possible. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA) that was passed last July cruelly dismisses the basic human right of refugees to have access to food and medical care, simply for their status. Refugees are trying very hard to do everything they can to be self-sufficient, but they need initial support and welcome from a country who has promised to protect the vulnerable. Refugees need more time to adjust, integrate, and find support in the community to become independent of their RA. If travel bans are lifted and access to public benefits is restored, refugees will succeed in the US. When refugees succeed, our entire community thrives.”
Olivia Dailey is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Photo (above): Resettled neighbors shared their stories at Spero PechaKucha night in 2024. Photo Makenzie Magnus-Yeary/The Spero Project.
Participants attended the Spero Welcome Exchange English class. The Welcome Exchange was an intensive three day/week program that invited new neighbors into classes and community during the first three months of being in Oklahoma. Photo Makenzie Magnus-Yeary/The Spero Project.