DENVER -- The effort to evacuate as many US citizens and Afghans as possible ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline is now over.
"As of today more than 122,000, including 5,000 foreign Americans have been evacuated from Afghanistan," said Army Maj. Gen. William “Hank” Taylor.
For Nadeema Safi, uncertainty is sinking in as her family remains stuck in Kabul.
"My mom’s entire of side of the family is there and I feel like everybody was left abandoned and they were given false promises. I fear for my family, my grandma, my cousins, my aunt and my uncles," said Safi.
So far, she’s tried everything in her power to at least get her grandmother and aunt out of the country.
"I filled out a humanitarian parole application, which is what I would like for my family there because it is immediate. But because I wasn’t being told anything back, from there I went ahead and applied for their visa as well," said Safi.
All the effort is in order to get her family out safely and be able to fulfill a promise that started years ago.
"I remember I had promised my grandpa that I would see him. He was lying on his death bed and I said that I would fly to out to you. And now I keep telling my grandma, too, 'I promise we will see each other.' So, I don’t want to break that promise to her because I felt like I definitely broke it to my grandpa," said Safi.
For Safi’s family, it’s not ideal to leave their homeland. But if it means finding a better life, she says, then it’s what they’ll have to do.
"If my parents didn’t flee when they did, who knows what my future would have been like, or my parents themselves," said Safi.
The days and weeks ahead for her family will be filled with potential dangers. Many Afghans and special immigrant visa holders, left behind in a country that looks far from their own.
"I’m nervous, I don’t want to wait a year. We don’t have that time left and I want to be able to see my family. I haven’t seen them in 21 years. I think I deserve to see them and they deserve a shot at a safe life," said Safi.
