In the News: Eyed with suspicion, WA Afghans find pain and promise in American life

…Cordelia Revells, Director of Immigrant and Refugee Services for Jewish Family Service in Seattle, picked up on it as Afghans started to arrive in Washington, some drawn by the presence of current or former U.S. soldiers they served with in Afghanistan.

Revells had seen immigrants from all over the world scarred by prolonged violence. But often, they had spent years in refugee camps before coming to the U.S., putting the horrors they experienced in the past and giving them time to adjust to the idea of leaving their country.

With Afghans, she said, “it was such a sudden change of circumstances.”

Often left behind: spouses, children, siblings, parents. Some families planned to reunite in the U.S., unaware it could take years, if they were lucky, to get the visas they needed for that to happen. Other separations occurred during the mayhem of U.S. evacuation flights.

Jewish Family Service saw children as young as 8 arrive without their parents…