MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This week, we've been reflecting on the September 11 terrorist attacks of 25 years ago. That day changed the U.S. and the world. After the attacks, the U.S. launched a war in Afghanistan against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Many Afghans helped the U.S. fight that war. A lot of them got visas to resettle in the U.S., where immigration policies are prompting new fears. NPR's Arezou Rezvani tells the story of one woman's journey. She's asked NPR to use only her first initial for fear of retribution directed at her family still in Afghanistan.
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AREZOU REZVANI, BYLINE: A few months ago, 33-year-old S walked across the stage in a cap and gown. She accepted a law degree with one hand and held her 5-year-old's hand in the other as he followed her across the stage in a little gray suit. It was a rare moment of joy for a heartbroken mother.
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REZVANI: S's story begins in Kabul just a few weeks after the September 11 attacks, when President George W. Bush addressed the nation.
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GEORGE W BUSH: On my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against the al-Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
REZVANI: Soon after the war started, the Taliban government collapsed. American forces started sweeping cities and patrolling neighborhoods. S says, as a child, she'd often chase Humvees and tanks rolling down her street.
S: I remember two times the driver stopped. He came out of the car, asked my name. He shaked my hands. And then he, like, encouraged me a lot - go to school, like, earn your degrees, and I hope to see you one day in the U.S.
REZVANI: S thrived in those years after 9/11. With the Taliban gone, she and other Afghan girls were finally allowed to go to school. She mastered English. She got married, had children. But there were also dark times. S's husband became abusive and walked out on the family when S was 4 months pregnant. A big break came in 2018. NPR reviewed documents showing S landed a job as a linguist for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, rooting out drug traffickers in Afghanistan.
S: So our job was, identify those people, find them, arrest them. And it was not only drugs. It was human trafficking, people planning explosions, bombing and killing U.S. military.
REZVANI: That drug trade served as a lifeline for the Taliban. And in 2021, Taliban fighters returned to Kabul. It didn't take long before a group of them went looking for S.
S: It was more than 14 Talibs staying with guns outside of my parents' house.
REZVANI: S snuck out of the home with her newborn, picked up her kids at a relative's house and headed to the airport, where the Biden administration's chaotic evacuations of U.S. personnel were underway.
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REZVANI: The scene at the airport was pure mayhem. Thousands of Afghans begged U.S. soldiers to let them enter the airport. The Taliban moved through the crowds, yelling at people and shooting.
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REZVANI: S had orders to help as an interpreter. She took her kids, hoping they could then catch a plane out. When they got to the airport, a U.S. soldier guarding the entrance told her only U.S. employees could go in.
S: I asked my mom to stay with them. I'll go talk to them. Stay right here. I'll ask the U.S. soldier. I'll introduce myself, and I'll ask them. I'm a single mom. I need them, right? I'll go talk to them, and I'll come back.
REZVANI: S's daughter clutched her mother's leg. Her son clung to the other, refusing to let go. S then made a fateful decision she says haunts her to this day. She peeled her kids off, and with her baby still strapped to her chest, went to convince the soldier to let them all enter.
S: The only thing that doesn't go away from my eyes is the moment that I've untangled her hands and his hands and, like, scream at them like, I'll come. I promise I'll come. Let me go. I promise I'll come. I wish I wouldn't have done that.
REZVANI: As she was trying to make her case, crowds around her grew rowdy. She says she got shoved into the airport, and that was it. S's kids watched her and her baby brother disappear beyond the airport walls. Soon after, she says U.S. soldiers inside the airport, amid growing chaos, hustled them onto a plane. It's been five years. And S's kids are still in Afghanistan.
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REZVANI: From her modest apartment in northern California, she calls them every morning, every night.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
S: (Non-English language spoken).
REZVANI: Her daughter doesn't go to school anymore. The Taliban has again banned girls' education after age 12. Her son is recovering from surgery. He was born with a cleft foot. The baby boy S carried on her chest into the airport and onto America is now a kindergartener, who knows his siblings only through these calls.
S: (Non-English language spoken).
REZVANI: For a time, S says she considered suicide. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, not with her youngest still with her. Every so often during our interview, the 5-year-old sets his toys aside and comes over.
S: Thank you.
REZVANI: He wraps his arms around his mother.
S: (Kissing) Thank you. I'm OK, I'm OK.
REZVANI: Over the years, with the help of a lawyer, S has begged government officials for help. But immigration processes dragged under President Biden. Then immigration policies tightened under President Trump. There was a window of opportunity a year ago when a lawsuit against the Trump administration cleared a path for family reunifications. After interviews and vetting, S's kids got clearance to join her in the U.S. Then it all fell apart.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Two National Guard troops have been shot in Washington near the White House.
REZVANI: An Afghan man who was also evacuated in 2021 was identified as the suspect. Hours later, Trump announced a permanent pause on immigration from, quote, "third world countries." NPR asked the State Department about S's kids. A spokesperson said they couldn't comment on specific cases and added, quote, "there's no absolute right to bring alien friends or relatives to the United States."
S has no idea when she'll hold her two kids again. She blames the U.S. government for that. The September 11 terrorist attacks that in many ways led to S's freedom have come at a cost for her, for her children and for the faith she once had in the U.S. government.
S: I was asked to trust them. I'll never trust them again.
REZVANI: Arezou Rezvani, NPR News, Rockland, California.
(SOUNDBITE OF RIVER TALE'S "SILENT ISLAND") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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