dug begley

On a video call earlier this month, Naqibullah Laghmanai showed his mother and two teenage brothers the rooms ready for them in his Houston home. Their long, painful wait to travel from Pakistan to Texas was almost complete. Their paperwork was in order, interviews completed and medical evaluations submitted.

“I showed them everything in my house,” Laghmanai said. “I had bought them stuff because they were done.”

Then America stopped all refugee flights, effective Jan. 27, leaving hundreds — likely thousands — of Afghans bound for Houston sitting and waiting. Those already in Texas, meanwhile, spend days and nights concerned for the safety of their loved ones still in harm’s way.