For new refugees, finding work and housing is hard. Finding community is even harder
LOS ANGELES — Carrying only two backpacks with clothes, important documents and baby formula, Abdul Jalil Barati, his wife and their 4-month-old son crammed into a U.S. Army aircraft with other Afghans at 1 a.m., ready to leave behind their family and friends for a new life.
It was Aug. 19, 2021, and as the Taliban took over Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. military's withdrawal, Barati — a former interpreter who worked with the Americans — made the difficult decision to leave his home to keep his wife and children safe.
"You can't explain the feeling ... it's a really bad feeling to leave everything behind," he said.
Barati and his family flew from Qatar to Washington, D.C., New Mexico and then Southern California, where service organizations helped set them up
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