Crossing Deserts and Jungles

My name is Mahdi. I’m twenty-eight years old. I came to the United States 5 months ago from Afghanistan.

I loved my life in Afghanistan. I got my bachelor’s in Business Administration and then started my own travel agency. But when the Taliban came, I quickly left the country.

The borders were closing in Afghanistan and they weren’t letting people escape. However, I had a customer that was sick with colon cancer so I helped him cross the border to Pakistan where there is a specific hospital that can help him. I had a passport, but they almost didn’t let us cross the border until I offered them money.

I was in Pakistan for three months alone. I missed my family, especially because I knew they were in a bad situation, but I knew in my heart that I didn’t want to go back to Afghanistan. I heard through some friends that I met in Pakistan that Brazil was offering humanitarian visas to Afghan people. Once I heard that I started to apply.

Once I got to Brazil I planned to cross about twelve or thirteen different borders. I saw many bad places and it was very dangerous for me. I went from Brazil to Ecuador and then other countries such as Colombia and Costa Rica.

I drove in a car with about five other people as we passed borders illegally. We drove through jungles and then eventually traveled by boat. It got very dangerous on the boat because we ran out of fuel and got stuck in a storm. I was praying every second that we would be able to make it out safely. After nineteen hours we were able to cross the border into Panama. After that most of my journey was in a bus traveling about fifteen hours every day. We finally made it to Mexico, but were told that the immigration officers wouldn’t let us through.

I found a group of four friends that decided to travel together because doing it alone is very difficult.

The time I was alone was very scary. I was with one other person in Panama and we stopped in a jungle. He had left for a while and told me he would come back. While I waited for him I was alone and scared. When he finally did come back we started our journey to Mexico.

When attempting to pass through Mexico, I got stopped by an immigration officer and was sent to a jail. I was alone and started to lose hope. I couldn’t contact my family because they took my phone; I knew my family was worried about me due to my sudden lack of communication. The officer said I would need to pay $400 and he would let me out. I was able to contact my family and they had to transfer money, which was a difficult task because it’s not easy with all the different currencies.

After I gave the officer the money he left me alone and I was able to continue my journey. I contacted my friends and they gave me tips on how to continue without running into other immigration officers. I was alone and it was really hard. I took buses and had to go across jungles to avoid officers.

When I finally crossed the border into the U.S there were some journalists we spoke with and then we met up with some officers who took us to a camp. I met with a Dr. who did some biometrics on me and they also took a look at my passport. Then I went to a hotel and booked a flight to Arizona because that’s the only place in the U.S. that I knew someone.

I’m still waiting for my asylum and my work permit to be approved. I hope to get it soon so I can start my job to help support my family.

There’s no way to leave the country either, so people are stuck and it’s a big problem.

Once I get my work permit I want to go into construction, but also want to improve my English by doing more college classes. My goal is to live in a city like New York. I love the hustle and bustle of a busy city because it keeps life interesting.

I talk to my family everyday over WhatsApp or Messenger. My family is doing well, but struggling with money because there are no jobs or flights in Afghanistan. People have no income.

Since I don’t have my work permit quite yet, my good friend is supporting me. I really appreciate them because they are paying for my rent, clothes, food, and everything.