The Way Out

The hardships don't end when the refugees arrive in the United States. Most get a two-month housing subsidy, which the State Department provides through refugee assistance groups (the groups can sometimes extend the subsidy through private donations); health insurance for up to a year; and help finding a job. Katham was placed in an apartment in one of Seattle's roughest neighborhoods. Two hours after he arrived, police on a drug bust swarmed his block. "I thought I was back in Karbala," he says. Katham's English is good and he has a profession. Before working as a translator in Iraq, he studied to be an electrician. But his roommate Hussan will need months of classroom training to become conversant in English. And he still needs medical treatment for a Green Zone injury that cost him his leg below the knee. "Maybe I can work as an office manager," he says hopefully. Johnson tells the refugees he's helped that all immigrants to the United States pay their dues. "My family came from garbagemen," he says. Here, at least, they're out of harm's way.

© 2007