Canopy Atlanta

1 month ago | 285south.com | Sophia Qureshi |Canopy Atlanta

Islamuddin Safi sits in the office of the Afghan American Alliance of Georgia (AAAGA), talking with the organization’s director, Shaista Amani, and her colleague Marzia Rostami. As he scrolls through his phone, occasionally showing them photos of his bodybuilding days in Afghanistan, or his late brother dressed in a military uniform, Marzia types on her laptop. She’s following up with Ross department store to see if there are any jobs there for Islamuddin or any of their other clients.

2 months ago | 285south.com | Sophia Qureshi |Canopy Atlanta

Omar had a vision for how his life would be in the U.S.: “Find a good job, pay all my bills, and be self-sufficient,” he said. He had worked for several years as a forklift operator for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, and his understanding was that, after he arrived here, he’d receive government assistance for the first few months. “My plan was to learn English and prepare myself for the conditions here in the United States,” he told 285 South with the help of a translator.

2 months ago | 285south.com | Sophia Qureshi |Canopy Atlanta

We’re hearing from readers and community members that they’ve been feeling overwhelmed. We hear you. We get it. We’ve been gathering information and talking to folks in different nonprofits about what concerned folks can do to support immigrant and refugee communities. Here’s what we learned:Team Libertad, a nonprofit that organizes volunteers to go to the Atlanta airport and support asylum seekers who were recently released from detention, is looking for volunteers.

2 months ago | 285south.com | Sophia Qureshi |Canopy Atlanta

Yusuf was wearing a black hoodie, sitting on a bench outside a coffee truck in Clarkston. He’s young, soft-spoken, his voice barely above a whisper, and his eyes look tired. He took some time out from working as an Uber driver to speak with 285 South over the weekend. Yusuf is from Afghanistan and now lives in Clarkston. He moved to the U.S. around four years ago, but his wife and two small children, ages four and six, are still back in Afghanistan, despite his efforts to bring them to join him.

2 months ago | 285south.com | Gabriela Henriquez Stoikow |Sophia Qureshi |Canopy Atlanta

On Tuesday, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents continued making arrests around the country including in metro Atlanta, 285 South spoke to a teacher who works at a public school in the Buford Highway corridor. He said about a fourth of his students haven’t shown up this week.