Bigger Than We Are

When Afghans first arrived in America after the U.S. evacuation of their country in 2021, Utah welcomed them. The state raised over a million dollars in a public-private partnership to help their new neighbors from Afghanistan rebuild their lives here. But the situation for immigrants  - and for Afghans in particular  - has changed. 

Among other developments, the federal government purchased a warehouse in Salt Lake City with capacity for 10,000 ICE detainees. Now, the Afghans who thought they had found a refuge in Utah are uncertain about their future.

Stranger Becomes Neighbor documented the effort to resettle Afghans in a state that promised to be a welcoming community. This episode examines the latest efforts by citizens to try to prevent the detention and deportation of their neighbors. 

We saw it on the news. The images still haunt us.

Two years ago this month, a desperate sea of humanity rushed the Kabul airport as the American military started mass evacuations in Afghanistan. Many were left behind to face the Taliban, while some escaped to countries like Iran and Pakistan. 

For over 80,000 refugees, America is now home. Their lives continue, but our news feeds have moved on, blasting stories about today’s crisis-du-jour. Now these evacuees live beside us, trying to make ends meet, find housing, gain acceptance, adapt to a new culture, and become valued members of our communities.

In Stranger Becomes Neighbor, we follow them. And we meet the Americans who have chosen to help their new neighbors. Like the stay-at-home mom who convinces a neighbor to rent out their basement to a pregnant Afghan woman, then finds herself helping to deliver the baby. Like a young widow who served in a secret pro-American unit of the Afghan military and now struggles to find childcare so she can work at Walmart.

Their stories – and the heartbreaking stories of loved ones left behind – inspire us to discover the hope and triumph of the human spirit.

What can one person do to help a stranger? 

We find out on a new podcast from KSL Podcasts, the people who brought you Cold and The Letter.

Coming soon, Stranger Becomes Neighbor