A ten-month separation ends with arrival of infant at airport.
One Tuesday in May, Lynden resident Tahmina Zalmai held her arms wide at a gate at SeaTac airport as she caught a glimpse of her daughter, Liya, being carried up the runway. It had been 10 long months of separation and the first time the two had reunited since the baby was born.
Liya’s father, Ahmad Hamrah, and a handful of fellow residents from Lynden, members of faith organizations and the nonprofit Racial Unity Now — which helped Zalmai and Hamrah get back on their feet as they continue to seek asylum in the U.S. — took in the moment.
“Everybody was crying, even the police officer that brought my daughter,” Hamrah said. “They saw the situation and they saw how her mom was shouting, and everyone was (in their) emotions.”
Hamrah and Zalmai worked for the U.S. embassy in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Not eligible for evacuation, the two went on the run in Pakistan under threat of murder for cooperating with the United States. Two weeks after Liya was born, Hamrah and Zalmai interviewed for their humanitarian parole case to go to the United States. Finally, they received the approval they’d been seeking. However, Liya — born midway through the process — did not.
The couple was given two options: go to the United States and fill out the application for the baby to follow suit in some months or wait two years and travel together.
Unable to earn enough income in Pakistan to support the family, Hamrah decided to take a chance. It took many tears and long conversations, he said.
With funds raised by Racial Unity Now, Zalmai’s sister was able to purchase a visa to travel from Afghanistan to Pakistan to take care of Liya while she awaited her separate humanitarian parole hearing.
Hamrah, Zalmai and Liya sit together in the apartment they recently signed a lease for thanks to Hamrah’s new position at Lynden Door. Playing with her father’s hands, Liya has a large smile — revealing her first and only tooth. She cries, then babbles, then yells.
It took much time and effort to get her here, Hamrah said: contacting the U.S. Embassy, Citizenship and Immigration Services; even Sen. Maria Cantwell’s office made emails on their behalf.
He posted around 15 emails a day, he said, and each day brought more delays, worry and frustration.
Finally, the family found progress. Zalmai’s sister was approved before Liya, but in a new arrangement the two were approved to come together.
From that point, it still took some weeks. The India-Pakistan conflict in early May closed the airport and canceled two attempts at plane tickets, Hamrah said. On the third ticket, Liya was able to leave for America.
Lynden has at times been the focal point of conversations about racial tension. Hamrah said that since his family has settled in Lynden four months ago, they have not experienced this at all.
“We always felt like the people, we have connection with them, it’s like feeling of family,” he said. “Whenever we call them or we have some kind of problems, they just help us just like we’re family, and it’s rare. Right now, you don’t see a lot of people help each other and people escape from their own families, but these people from the very start up to now, they’re always helping.”
Many people they have met in Lynden pitch in to help them and regularly check in, he said.
“It is sweet to hear them speak so warmly of their Lynden experience, coming from the chaos of Afghanistan and Pakistan,” said Ron Polinder, founder of Racial Unity Now, in a message to Salish Current. “The quiet, peaceful atmosphere of smaller town America is remarkable to them.”
For now, it’s the simple things that don’t always seem so simple: an apartment of their own, a colorful rug, a soft couch, a television. A baby crying for a bottle in place of a mother crying for her baby. Small improvements day by day.
But Hamrah still struggles to make ends meet. As Zalmai does not speak English, the two are limited on how they can make money.
With one income, Hamrah supports not just his Lynden family, but both his and Zalmai’s families in Afghanistan.
Hamrah is grateful for his job at Lynden Door, though in the summertime there is less overtime available, he said. He often gets off work and starts delivering food with Uber Eats and Doordash.
On these days, he gets no time to see his daughter, he said.
“There remains a major challenge,” Polinder wrote. “The immigration process is part one, now to help them resettle in a new town in a new country, that is part two. They will need some help for rent, car payment, groceries and more. Remember, they risked their lives helping our country. We are hoping we can help them adapt to the U.S.”
Racial Unity Now is accepting contributions in support of the family.
Hamrah and Zalmai still linger in uncertainty. The family has been waiting to hear back about scheduling an asylum interview since January. President Donald Trump has invoked a string of changes since taking office, such as halting Afghan Special Immigrant Visas — which is currently in the process of a potential reversal — and proposing to withhold work permits from asylum seekers.
Hamrah said they should get notice within a month or so.
“I know the future is bright,” he said, “but it takes time.”
— By Sam Fletcher
Also read in Salish Current
• “Asylum seekers find refuge in Lynden,” Feb. 19, 2025
• “Permission to work boosts local refugees in resettlement,” Jan. 13, 2023
• “Refugee resettlement in Whatcom works to meet growing needs,” April 1, 2022