Trump's Funding Freeze Leaves Us Allied Afghan Refugees Struggling For The Basics

The rent is due, but Rahmani has no money to pay it.

The Afghan father of two worked for a U.S.-backed organization in Kabul, which put him at risk of Taliban retribution. Now he is among thousands of newly arrived refugees who lost financial assistance when the Trump administration cut off funding for the federal refugee program in January.

His family's monthly rent and utilities total nearly 1,850, an unfathomable amount compared to what he once paid in Kabul.

He has spent weeks looking for work, walking along the suburban highway across from his family's apartment, inquiring at small markets and big box stores. So far, there are no job leads.

He moved here in November with the federal refugee program, a vetted form of legal migration to the U.S. for those fleeing persecution. To fast-track self-sufficiency, it provides refugees with wraparound services for three months - help with housing, food and job placement - while other federal grants support their first five years.