Integrating Afghan "Evacuees" in the United States: An Oral History of Family Dynamics Following the 2021 Regime Change in Afghanistan

• In Event: Migrants, Asylees, and Refugees: Efforts and Responses to Welcoming Newcomers to New York City Schools

Proposal

In August 2021, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, triggering a mass displacement of Afghans. The U.S. government initiated Operation Allies Refuge and evacuated over 76,000 Afghans to the U.S., marking the most significant wartime relocation effort since the Vietnam War. While this airlift provided safety, integrating Afghan evacuees into U.S. society has been fraught with challenges. Language barriers, cultural dislocation, employment hurdles, and social isolation are some of the primary difficulties. This study explores how language proficiency influences the integration of Afghan evacuees, focusing mainly on family dynamics, parental roles, education, and cultural continuity.

Research shows that migrants’ experiences are likely to fall into one of four categories: assimilation, integration, separation, or marginalization (Berry 1997). According to Berry (1997), integration, viewed as the ideal outcome, occurs when individuals maintain their cultural identity while actively engaging with their host society. Language acquisition is key, serving as both a bridge and a barrier to integration, often reshaping family dynamics. Similarly, for Afghan evacuees, proficiency in English is key to accessing education, employment, and social services. Yet adults, especially women, face significant challenges in learning English underscoring broader integration difficulties. When children acquire English more quickly than their parents, it can lead to a reversal of authority roles, causing tension within families (Orellana, 2009) and potentially undermining integration.

To explore the dimensions of integration within family roles and cultural adaptation, I used qualitative methods, including oral histories and semi-structured interviews among ten newly arrived Afghan families over one year. These oral histories capture personal narratives across three stages of displacement: evacuation and arrival, one-year post-evacuation, and the present. I offer rich, autobiographical accounts of how language barriers and integration challenges have shaped evacuees' lives, identifying mechanisms that either enhance or obstruct these processes.

Preliminary findings reveal several trends. First, as often occurs among immigrant populations (Zhou, M., & Bankston, C. L. (2024), the disparity in language acquisition between children and their parents creates new family dynamics, with children often becoming their parents' primary translators and mediators. This role reversal leads to shifts in authority and parental roles, leaving parents feeling isolated and disempowered. Children's rapid cultural adaptation contrasts with their parent's slower language acquisition, widening generational and cultural gaps. Second, this often results in tension, as the children's growing fluency in English undermines traditional family structures and parental authority. Afghan women face heightened barriers due to limited education in Afghanistan and difficulty accessing U.S. language programs, hindered by childcare responsibilities and cultural expectations. Finally, the increase in screen time among children further isolates parents. With parents unable to assist with school material due to language barriers, children often fill their time with games or TV, straining family dynamics and limiting educational engagement. This study offers insights into these specific phenomena and aims to uncover new mechanisms that can support or undermine social integration.

Author

• Mohammad Jawed Nazari, New York University