Hundreds of Afghan refugees gathered with American volunteers and others for a community Thanksgiving meal Sunday, one step on a quest to become American.
For Afghan refugees working to make a life in the United States, Thanksgiving is not an especially big deal.
“You need to be part of this country’s culture,” said Mohammad Fisih Yaqoobi, 22, who immigrated to the D.C. area last year and attended Sunday’s dinner. “I need to learn this culture and do it.”The group met in a community hall in Arlington at the local headquarters of the Ethiopian Community Development Council, one of nine U.S. refugee resettlement agencies. Paper lanterns shaped like globes hung from the ceiling, and a cascade of string lights brightened the back wall.
The Trump administration severely limited refugee admissions, and the pandemic further slowed the resettlement program. During the Trump years, the Ethiopian Community Development Council resettled an average of 230 people annually, and in 2020-21, only 188.When President Biden took office, he increased the number of refugees allowed into the United States.
“You can’t learn the culture of a new country in one day,” Teferra cautioned the group. “It is a gradual process.”“We want them to connect with the spirit of Thanksgiving,” he said. “We are basically saying to every immigrant, ‘This is a symbol of welcoming.' Because there are times when refugees and immigrants feel they are not welcome here.”Nazifa Khaliqi, 52, said she knew nothing about Thanksgiving last year, which occurred soon after she arrived from Afghanistan.
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