Help Reunite an Afghan Couple Separated by Crisis

My name is Jesse Prichard and I am asking for financial support for an emergency flight for my friends (names removed for privacy reasons).

Only two weeks after their wedding, a young couple from Afghanistan became separated. Both were special visa holders to come to the US for people who might be targeted by the Taliban because of their assistance to the US military or the new Afghan government. She was settled in the US while he had to wait ten months before he could join her and be reunited in February 2025.

Days before he was set to arrive however, President Trump cancelled the flights for over a thousand refugees from Afghanistan. Many of these refugees had risked their lives to help the US military and incoming government, and cancelling their flights not only broke a promise to our friends internationally but also out many lives at risk.

Additional actions by the US government made the prospect of coming to the US even more frightening. While the visas were still valid, it was unclear what would happen if someone purchased their own ticket and tried to fly to the US. Would they be allowed on the flight, would they be stopped at customs, sent back to Afghanistan, detained in the US or worse? And if they were allowed to come, it was clear that no financial assistance for resettlement would be given

Knowing all this, but with no other viable options to be together again, the young couple sought legal advice, hired a lawyer and booked a last-minute flight to the US. This was costly and potentially risky. After arriving at the airport, he was detained for an hour and then his visa was recognized. After nearly a year apart, at times with no hope of being reunited, the couple came back together six days after their wedding anniversary.

Coming from families who risked much to assist the United States and support a democratic government in their home country, the couple should never have had to pay for their flights, much less the legal costs and the massive uncertainty about their fate at immigration. I am asking for your donations to help reimburse the costly move for this couple and to cover some of the legal services. My hope is that this financial assistance will help alleviate at least the financial anxieties that this couple has had to endure.