Latest / Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News / Coming to America and not assimilating, cultures collide

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Coming to America and not assimilating, cultures collide · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

• 0:04
  Welcome to After Dark America How Club Radio Beach Network.
• 0:08
  I'm your host, Rob Harker.
• 0:10
  I am glad you could join me tonight.
• 0:12
  As I've always said, I know that there are other places, other podcasts or radio stations, shows that you could be listening to, but you've decided to carve out that small space of time to join me here on After Dark on America Out Loud.
• 0:28
  And I do appreciate it, especially given the fact that we're during the holiday season and there is so much that's going on.
• 0:36
  But you decided to share that time with us.
• 0:39
  Tonight my guest is Fanu Malot, who has been on our show twice before.
• 0:46
  And I'm glad he's on.
• 0:47
  Fanu is a former interpreter for the US Army.
• 0:51
  He probably served the United States military as an interpreter from 2012 to 2014.
• 0:57
  As a little boy, he had always dreamed of helping the United States military and went through all the schooling necessary to become an interpreter.
• 1:05
  He now lives in the United States.
• 1:09
  So we brought decided to bring him back on to give us an update on what he's doing now that he has been in the states.
• 1:17
  Fanu, how are you?
• 1:19
  Hi Rob.
• 1:20
  I'm very good.
• 1:21
  Thank you so much for having me on your show again.
• 1:24
  Thank you for coming on.
• 1:26
  So as I understand it, you're now living in Texas.
• 1:28
  Is that correct?
• 1:29
  Correct.
• 1:30
  I live in Dallas, Texas right now.
• 1:32
  Okay, and how are you finding Dallas, Texas?
• 1:37
  It's a beautiful city.
• 1:39
  It's uh getting crowded.
• 1:41
  I love uh crowded cities like New York City and other big cities.
• 1:45
  So uh I'm here living near downtown Dallas.
• 1:49
  Uh I love the freedom that we have in this state, the city, and uh it's been a great uh time for me since I have been here in Dallas City.
• 1:59
  And uh as you might know, I was in California in 2014 when I came, so then I moved to Dallas, Texas.
• 2:07
  Okay, so from 2014, you moved to Dallas in 2014.
• 2:11
  2015.
• 2:13
  2015.
• 2:14
  Uh so very little time in California.
• 2:16
  How what what differences do you see in California and Texas?
• 2:21
  And I'm asking because I've visited both states.
• 2:24
  California is beautiful.
• 2:26
  Well, I'll say was beautiful for obvious reasons.
• 2:29
  There is a uh Democrat governor and Los Angeles, one of the most popular cities, has a Democratic mayor.
• 2:36
  And my opinion, they're not doing a great job.
• 2:38
  But when I visited LA, San Francisco, to me, San Francisco is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful pictures cities in the country.
• 2:48
  Beautiful place.
• 2:50
  Then I went to Texas, visited Texas.
• 2:53
  Texas is right next to actually my home state of Arkansas, and I have family in Texas, but Texas just didn't do it for me.
• 3:02
  I found it to be really flat and as hot, hot as I'll get out, but it is beautiful.
• 3:08
  So what are the similarities?
• 3:10
  Or do you prefer one over the other?
• 3:12
  California over Texas.
• 3:14
  What could you tell us about that?
• 3:16
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 3:17
  Uh in California, I was living in Monterey.
• 3:20
  It was uh two and a half hours, if I'm not wrong, uh far far away from San Francisco, beautiful weather, beautiful scenery, beautiful beaches.
• 3:31
  The only problem was that I wasn't being that I wasn't being able to find any full-time jobs, and uh the life expense was very high, and uh it we were double taxed.
• 3:44
  So uh I had a lot of friends here in Dallas, Texas, uh, who invited me to come here, and when I came here, uh I stayed here uh while the weather is hot during summer, and I'm uh kind of used to it because uh when I was at the military, I was stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, which is similar weather, so I'm used to it.
• 4:06
  But the freedom that we have here uh and the taxation, the life expenses lower than where I used to be in California, so I love it here.
• 4:17
  Now you keep mentioning the freedom that you have you have there in Texas, and this is a United States.
• 4:23
  So are you comparing that freedom to the lack of freedom in Afghanistan, or you noticed a difference going from state to state in California, as I mentioned, which has a Democratic governor, and in Texas, you have a Republican governor.
• 4:39
  So elaborate on that a little bit when you say the freedom that you have there in Texas.
• 4:45
  Absolutely.
• 4:46
  So when I talk about the freedom, I compare to California during the COVID-19 era and uh all the restrictions that they imposed on uh people on civil people in California comparing to here in Dallas.
• 5:01
  We have restrictions here in Dallas, but not the way it was in California.
• 5:05
  So when I saw that, I was like, uh I'm glad that I moved before COVID here.
• 5:11
  And there are other freedom, freedom for business people, uh, freedom for people uh to start their business and start their entrepreneurship uh journeys without having a lot of uh regulations and laws imposing on them.
• 5:29
  You know, that's interesting.
• 5:30
  A person who's coming from the outside of the United States and recognized the differences uh from state to state, you know, freedom composed compared to non-freedom, because living in Afghanistan, uh the freedom that we have here, you you guys didn't even have a touch of the freedom, but you seeing the difference from state to state, and that it's remarkable that you're able to pick up on that, like you said, it was during the COVID and all of the restrictions that were placed on individuals, and even like you said for the businesses, when businesses were shut down in California, you have the governor to say no businesses, but yet still he was going to his fancy restaurants, French laundry, his kids were in school while everyone else's kids, they weren't in school.
• 6:19
  Now you compare that to Texas, like you said, there were some restrictions, but not the oppressive restrictions that they had in California.
• 6:29
  So now that you're in Texas, uh having come to the states, what have you done with yourself?
• 6:36
  Because I want I I what I'm trying to do is I want people to get an understanding as to life and Afghanistan coming here to California and now in Texas, and like you said, that freedom, that sense of being able to do what you need to do and be an entrepreneur.
• 6:54
  So what can you tell our listeners about that?
• 6:57
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 6:58
  So when I came from Afghanistan here in the United States, I had a dream to build a better life for myself and being able to bring my family here one day.
• 7:09
  So when I came to Texas, I started looking into continuing my education, and I went to uh Remington College and I got my associates of applied science and business administration.
• 7:23
  So I I had that degree then I uh during COVID, actually before COVID, I started going on a full stack web development boot camp or school, and I finished that during COVID at Lambda School.
• 7:37
  At a time it was called Lambda School, and uh that was uh my continuing education um uh part of it here when I moved to Texas.
• 7:48
  Then uh I've been working on multiple companies uh in logistics field uh as inventory purchaser uh uh coordinator and then beginning of 2014 when I got my license as a real estate sales agent here in Texas or in Dallas, Texas, then I started my new journey of uh becoming uh realtor focused on residential properties, helping home buyers and home sellers here in the Dallas community, and that's been also uh a big dream of mine for years uh to get into the real estate business.
• 8:35
  Also, I was influenced by uh President Trump himself uh by his uh real estate business, and uh there were some other people, my friend here uh he has a uh brokerage here in Dallas, Texas.
• 8:50
  And uh this year, actually in the beginning, I wanted to get involved uh to support uh and help the community and the future of uh this community here in Dallas, Texas.
• 9:05
  So I joined the Dallas County Republican Party, and uh I was appointed as a precinct chair for that for this precinct where I'm living, and I'm involved in into that.
• 9:20
  Uh so what my there are some tasks that I do as a precinct chair.
• 9:25
  Uh one of them is involvement in voter engagement, and uh we have we also have some organisational duties, uh like uh organizing local events, attending their uh recruiting election judges, clerks, and generally building a local team.
• 9:45
  And also uh I'm attending the executive committee meetings of the party on a monthly basis.
• 9:52
  Uh, these are some of the stuff that I have been doing uh since I have moved to Texas.
• 9:58
  So, Fanu.
• 10:00
  Coming from Afghanistan, California to Texas, and you're describing to us, you know, what happened to you in your life and noticing the difference in California and in Texas, just there's more freedom.
• 10:11
  You're able to like spread your wings and do some of the things that you wanted to that you're passionate about.
• 10:18
  What made you, and I know you explained this, you said this before during the first broadcast.
• 10:22
  And I mentioned this when we opened up, you having a dream to work with the US military, which is what you did.
• 10:29
  Uh would you take any of that back if you had it to do all over again?
• 10:33
  With the US uh military part, when I uh become an interpreter for them, uh, I would never give that away, that opportunity, because that's been uh my only dream since I was kid when I was uh seeing the US military when they were coming to where we used to live there in Kalk Kabul, Afghanistan, building a schools for us, bringing supplies, bringing supplies for the community, and just looking at their interpreters, and that that became a dream for me to become an interpreter and serve alongside the US forces.
• 11:15
  I would never give that away if I would give any other experience that I had.
• 11:20
  What why do you what do you think that is?
• 11:22
  Uh that you would that that that would be a dream of yours.
• 11:25
  Are other kids in Afghanistan?
• 11:28
  Do they have the same dream?
• 11:30
  I don't think if every other kit, but it might be a small number of it in Afghanistan.
• 11:37
  Okay, what why is that?
• 11:38
  Was there something about America that you and others saw that you what you strive to want to be?
• 11:46
  Because what you hear a lot of times is that America, they're the colonizers, they're coming in and they're doing this, and they're doing that.
• 11:52
  But from listening to what you're seeing, I mean, even as a kid in Afghanistan, you saw it differently.
• 11:58
  I think I have the reason I have thought differently is uh I never listened to others in the community if they would say anything bad about US forces or coalition forces in Afghanistan.
• 12:13
  And when I saw them, they come in, building our communities, building a schools for us, and we used to sit on the ground uh at a school when we were going to school uh on the ground on a carpet, but they were bringing uh tables, chairs for us, school supplies, uh building water pumps in our area.
• 12:34
  We used to uh drink water out of the whales, but then when they built water pumps in there in our area, we had access to uh drinking water.
• 12:44
  Just looking that they were serving our communities, our country.
• 12:48
  I was like, I have to give back, I have to work with them.
• 12:51
  Why don't you work with them because you saw what they're doing, uh the good that they were doing, as opposed to like you said, the negativity that a lot of people have said uh about the US.
• 13:02
  Now, just moving on along, uh, that fateful day in October uh 2021, the failed withdrawal.
• 13:11
  Were you there at the time, or were you had you already come to the states?
• 13:16
  No, I was in the States at that time.
• 13:19
  My family was in Afghanistan.
• 13:21
  So when you saw that happening, what was the first what was your first thought?
• 13:27
  My first thought was my family in thousand other families and interpreters who served alongside the US uh forces in Afghanistan who were in Afghanistan.
• 13:38
  I was like, uh, the moment Taliban that night Taliban took over Kabul, I was in constant communication with my family.
• 13:46
  I was worried, I had sleepless nights, and I wanted to get them out of there as soon as possible.
• 13:54
  So that that failed attempt put your family in a very dangerous situation, knowing that you were an interpreter.
• 14:04
  Uh and it could have possibly been like a uh a spotlight on your family.
• 14:11
  So, how has your family been since then?
• 14:14
  I know that you had mentioned that you've been working to bring your family here.
• 14:21
  How has that been?
• 14:24
  Correct.
• 14:25
  My family uh has been uh laying low, has been uh not in public uh most of the time in fear of uh being identified as a family of an interpreter.
• 14:40
  And uh the good part is that I was uh being able to bring my father here in 2022 legally and uh through uh family potential.
• 14:53
  Uh but my mother, sister, and brother who are under eight or young, uh, they're still uh right now they're in Pakistan because they had their visa interview, uh, but they were in Afghanistan since then.
• 15:09
  So you you were able to bring your dad here and according to the immigration laws, once you once you came here and you were able to come here because of the services that you had provided to our military.
• 15:22
  So you had been thoroughly debt, is that safe to say?
• 15:28
  I'm sorry, uh, can you repeat your question again?
• 15:31
  Sure.
• 15:31
  I said you had been thoroughly vetted before coming here, although you worked with a US military, but you had been vetted before coming to America.
• 15:40
  Correct.
• 15:41
  Correct.
• 15:42
  Correct.
• 15:42
  Uh, as an interpreter, we go through rigorous uh vetting process.
• 15:47
  Uh even if you leave the immigration part, just being an interpreter during that time serving as an interpreter, you're being vetted constantly 24-7.
• 15:59
  Every six months, uh, you do interview uh with intelligence officers in the base that you work in.
• 16:07
  They constantly monitor your communication.
• 16:09
  And when you apply for the SIV visa, you go through a lot of vetting process to get here.
• 16:16
  Could you explain that process?
• 16:18
  What is it like the vetting that you went through?
• 16:22
  So the vetting uh uh it's been a long time since uh I came here.
• 16:29
  I came here back in 2014.
• 16:33
  Uh, one of the processes that I would say is they uh check your social media, uh you provide all your contacts, email address, they check them, and uh you have to be recommended by the uh officers or the military forces that you work with, you have to have recommendation letters from them, then they contact them, ask about uh how ask about the work you have done, the attitude, the behavior that they have seen, and ask a lot of questions, and they definitely uh do biometrics, check the biometrics uh to see if there is any red flag.
• 17:12
  And uh I'm not sure what other vetting uh did they have done on us, uh, but that that's been a really rigorous vetting process.
• 17:22
  But yours was because as you mentioned, you were an interpreter, and so when you when they when you got ready to come, uh all of that took place.
• 17:31
  Then once you came here, was there continued vetting, or was that it?
• 17:36
  Uh that's something that could be uh that could be classified.
• 17:40
  I'm pretty sure the government uh vets continuously look uh monitoring uh people who are coming here.
• 17:47
  That's something I don't know.
• 17:49
  Uh but uh when you are applying for your citizenship after five years of uh being as a green card here or a permanent resident, then you again go through the vetting process, and then uh after you pass your interview, the citizenship interview, you're granted the citizenship.
• 18:09
  You're granted citizen.
• 18:10
  Okay, folks, we're listening to you listen to After Dark of the America Out Loud Talk Radio Network, and my guest today is Fenu Malot, who is uh was a U.S.
• 18:18
  interpreter for the uh military.
• 18:20
  We're gonna continue our discussion on the other side of the break.
• 18:22
  Because what I want you all to be able to understand is the betting process before individuals come here in light of the recent uh attack on National Guards in uh DC.
• 18:34
  Uh, we'll be back after this brief commercial break.
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• 21:48
  And we're back with the second half of our show.
• 21:51
  And I want to continue the discussion with my guests, giving you an understanding or feel for what exactly happens when individuals come here to our country.
• 22:03
  They just don't come willy-nilly, and that said nothing else is done.
• 22:07
  There is a process that's supposed to be in place.
• 22:11
  And as I mentioned, my guess is Fenu Malat, who was a former interpreter for the US Army.
• 22:16
  And he was walking us through his vetting process, what took split, what took place before he came here.
• 22:21
  No, but something else that I want to discuss is that before you came here, you had a working knowledge, so to speak of the American culture, uh being around uh the military men and women.
• 22:39
  Now, of course, by no means is that like a complete understanding of the culture, but when you came here, there might have been a somewhat culture shock.
• 22:50
  So, how are you able to adapt to what you saw here in America compared to the culture in Afghanistan?
• 22:59
  As an interpreter, especially combat interpreter uh for the US forces in Afghanistan, you leave in the same base, sometimes in the same tent room, and you're exposed, I would say 80 to 90 percent to the American and foreign culture, and you go eat together, they celebrate Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other holidays that you celebrate as well.
• 23:33
  So you're exposed to the majority of the culture, and when you come here in the United States, you don't have that big shock because you have been exposed, you have accepted that culture, and when you come here, you continue to learn there are some new stuff that uh you get to face, but you're not completely shocked comparing to some people who've never served alongside the US forces, and they come here suddenly, they have that culture shock.
• 24:08
  And when you say suddenly have a culture truck shock, what would be an example of something that would shock a person uh coming leaving Afghanistan and coming to America?
• 24:18
  Now I could think of a number of things, but I wanted to come from you, a person who coming had come from Afghanistan to America, and you've known other individuals who've done this.
• 24:28
  What do you think would be a major culture shock uh to someone coming from Afghanistan?
• 24:36
  Yeah, sure.
• 24:37
  So the first thing that it comes to my mind is in Afghanistan, all women that you see on the streets or stores or anywhere outside home, they're all covered.
• 24:48
  Either their faces, their bodies are fully covered because of the religious laws in the country.
• 24:56
  So when you come here, the first thing you see in the public is women who are not covered.
• 25:02
  And uh there are some women who are uh what I would say half naked, and uh that that's the first culture shock for people that come in that who have never seen it uh with the US forces.
• 25:16
  That's the what that's one of them.
• 25:19
  And uh another thing that I would say is food, traditions, holidays are different, and uh the types of uh the holiday celebrations are different than the religious holiday celebrations over there.
• 25:36
  So these are some of the examples that I could think of.
• 25:40
  Well, let me go back to the first one that you mentioned, because I could see that as being a major culture shock, uh, having been to uh traveled overseas to Southeast Asia to some uh Muslim countries and looking at the way women dress compared to here in America, and I've had friends to come from there to here, and they were shocked uh to see how our women uh the apparel, like you said, some would consider naked.
• 26:07
  So in Afghanistan, is is that do they deem that it's being offensive when it is seen?
• 26:16
  Uh in uh what how is it viewed?
• 26:22
  Yeah, in a religious view, uh what I would say is not uh not legal if you look at like a their religious view, so they don't want to see woman uh uncovered like they want their okay.
• 26:41
  You could you could see their face, but their body needs to be covered.
• 26:45
  So that's like a their perspective.
• 26:48
  And that's one of the things that you see.
• 26:51
  And and if you do see that, again, are they fine are the men finding this offensive?
• 26:56
  Do they feel that something needs to happen to these women?
• 27:00
  Or what exactly which you say is going through their head.
• 27:07
  So that I would then come back to the what I told you.
• 27:12
  Like if you have worked with the US forces there, and that's how you come here, uh, you already accepted it because you have already seen it at the military.
• 27:22
  This is over there in Afghanistan.
• 27:24
  But if you are like a religious pupil or religious person, that you suddenly come here, and you suddenly see all these stuff that you think these are like illegal, that they shouldn't be doing this or they shouldn't be dressing like this, then that could be a trouble.
• 27:42
  Okay.
• 27:43
  Now, why do you think this is interesting?
• 27:45
  That's the reason I want to stick with this.
• 27:47
  You know, you you're bringing individuals, and we spoke about this uh a few years ago when you came here.
• 27:52
  Joe Biden brought in, I think it was 50,000 Afghanistanians uh to America.
• 27:59
  Uh but I guess they felt that we're helping them.
• 28:02
  Uh and this does not include the interpreters, just individuals they brought them here and drop them off to different parts of the country, gave them food, a place to stay.
• 28:17
  And that was it.
• 28:18
  And I remember when we had this conversation a few years ago, you had mentioned to Andrew and I, you said that's a recipe for disaster because of the cultural issues.
• 28:27
  You're leaving a person on a foreign land not knowing the language or the culture, and then expecting them to find their way.
• 28:39
  And how can they do it?
• 28:43
  Correct.
• 28:44
  And this is not that I have seen it, but this is all I have heard from friends and family who were there at the time at the Kabul Airport, and the type of people that they saw that uh they were getting a chance to enter inside the airport and getting into planes and coming here.
• 29:04
  Uh I would I would say that at least 40 to 30% of them were not involved with the US forces in Afghanistan.
• 29:16
  That they came here.
• 29:18
  They're people from the streets, they're people like taxi drivers, people who used to work at the airport.
• 29:24
  And uh people who used to work for media in Afghanistan, their families and friends who came here.
• 29:31
  And uh I think that's uh that's something uh that's one of the things that happening with the recent uh event that happened in the Washington DC uh people coming here and they're going through a lot of hardship and mental health problems.
• 29:50
  And unable to to fit in, so to speak.
• 29:53
  You're you're just basically just left alone, dropped off, and I'm not trying to make excuses for what happened, but when you just dropped.
• 30:00
  Off and left to your own vices.
• 30:02
  I mean, things happen.
• 30:03
  Why do you think?
• 30:05
  Because this I hear this often that these individuals wouldn't have been taken to a Muslim country as opposed to a Western country, because then you would have cultural similarities.
• 30:20
  To bring a person here, this is a complete culture shock completely out of the norm, and you're told to survive.
• 30:28
  Don't know the language, different customs, different everything.
• 30:31
  What is there ever discussion or in your mind that they would like let's take them to a Muslim country, something that's closer to their culture?
• 30:43
  Why did you think that ever came up?
• 30:45
  Or did it?
• 30:47
  I don't think if there is a Muslim country that would accept um asylums or Afghans to leave in their country and provide them with job opportunities.
• 31:03
  Even if you have to go to a Muslim country, you have to apply for their visas, and you go as a tourist there, and they're not letting you say they're so I think what happened in 2021 was uh they had an opportunity, almost everyone to get into the airport to get on the planes and either come here in the United States or other countries or other European countries.
• 31:31
  I don't think if Muslim countries they would allow that to happen.
• 31:38
  Right.
• 31:39
  And even when you look at you see what's happening in uh Israel and uh Palestine and them wanting to bring again Muslims from that area to Western countries.
• 31:53
  Why isn't there ever talk in your in your in your your in your opinion to take these individuals to other Muslim countries?
• 32:04
  Like you said, they wouldn't have them.
• 32:05
  Why wouldn't they have them?
• 32:09
  That's a great question.
• 32:11
  Yes, that's a great question too.
• 32:13
  I may not have an answer for that, and that's that's been also something that I have been asking.
• 32:19
  Like uh, if you have countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, why are they not taking immigrants?
• 32:27
  And you have to because they're they they have a similar culture, similar culture, similar background.
• 32:32
  Well, of course, there might be some differences, but to get a person and remove them like way across the world to a Western country, something that you've heard about, and knowing that it's going to be completely different, and like you said, one of the first things you notice is you know, women not being fully clothed here in Western culture.
• 32:53
  You have that you see this in Europe.
• 32:54
  You look at the uh individuals who've gone to the European countries, the exact same problems, and that's the first thing they'll mention the way women dress.
• 33:03
  I remember reading the book by Malcolm X.
• 33:05
  I don't know if you've read the book or not.
• 33:06
  Uh, and he had mentioned that in his book, that you can judge a society by the way women, their women dress, and that's just like one of the big red flags.
• 33:17
  So you bring these people here, they see this, bam, red flag.
• 33:22
  I remember reading that in some uh some of the European countries there were women who were attacked uh because of the way they were dressed.
• 33:28
  I'm not saying it was right, please hear me clearly.
• 33:31
  I'm just saying these are the things that you encounter.
• 33:33
  So you would think that as opposed to bringing these individuals to Western countries that you would send them to, or see if a Muslim country would take them.
• 33:44
  But as you mentioned, some of the Muslim countries don't want to do it.
• 33:47
  You look at what happened in Israel and Palestine when they reached out to Egypt and Jordan, they said, nope, you can't come here.
• 33:52
  We have borders.
• 33:54
  Why wouldn't they allow them to come there as opposed to putting these individuals in a very uncomfortable situation, and that being the West, especially if you're going to say that the West is bad, the West they're colonizers, and they're racist.
• 34:09
  So why would you want to introduce these individuals to that?
• 34:12
  It is a recipe for disaster.
• 34:16
  You were able to come in and as they say assimilate because you had been around the military man on the basis in Afghanistan.
• 34:25
  So there might have been a culture shock, but not as much as one because you were familiar with a lot of the customs.
• 34:31
  So you came here and you were okay.
• 34:33
  But I remember clearly when you said that's not good, especially if they bring them here, there will be a culture shock.
• 34:40
  And we see that now.
• 34:42
  We see it all over in different states.
• 34:46
  We hear people, and of course, our media doesn't want to talk about it.
• 34:50
  They want to pretend as if though it doesn't exist, they want to sweep it up under the proverbial rug, but eventually that rug is gonna get too big that it's gonna start to see leak out, and people will see it.
• 35:04
  And what happened uh in DC, I'm sorry, in Virginia, West Virginia, this uh over the Thanksgiving holiday is a result of it.
• 35:14
  Not only that, we saw this happening in New York City.
• 35:18
  We said just recently in Texas, a man was putting together uh a bomb and was going to blow up, but they were able to stop them.
• 35:27
  You can hide it for so long, but you have to address the root cause of the problem, and that is if you're gonna bring them here, you've got to make certain that they are vetted and that they're watched, and that you provide them with a support system.
• 35:44
  Now, in Texas, as you've been there, have there been other Afghanistanians that you've talked to that you've tried to assist and help them to adapt to the culture differences.
• 35:59
  Well, actually, here in Texas, I'm really not with involved with the Afghan community, uh, live far away from them.
• 36:06
  I have a few friends that who have accepted this culture, who we work together as interpreters in the same base in the same city in Canada.
• 36:16
  Was it difficult?
• 36:16
  Did they say that it would they say that it was difficult for them to no, not really?
• 36:23
  Not really, not because it worked on the base, okay.
• 36:26
  Correct.
• 36:27
  Yeah, that I know them.
• 36:28
  I'm trying to stay away from people uh who I don't know.
• 36:32
  Right.
• 36:33
  Okay, and what about your dad when your dad came here?
• 36:36
  How was he?
• 36:36
  How did he see the uh the culture shock?
• 36:41
  My dad, uh, since we since we have been in communication, whether during my time as an interpreter in Canada or Afghanistan, or whether over here since I've been here, I've always almost every day talk to them over the phone, talk to them over uh video calls and showing them pictures, sending them pictures of customs, traditions, culture over here.
• 37:08
  My dad hasn't had a really big culture shock, and uh there are there are stuff that he he questions me, but I explain for him, and uh he he's actually really open-minded compared to some of the people that you see that they come here.
• 37:27
  Right.
• 37:28
  Yeah, you know, when you think about it, like you said, coming from a small uh village uh in Afghanistan, and then you're tossed here in America and it's this huge place, and you're like, okay, what do I do?
• 37:38
  How do I figure things out?
• 37:40
  And I think that a lot of times Americans assume that our democracy, our way of life, that others want it, and that's just not the case.
• 37:51
  Uh they see it and they they look at it an amusement, but once they're introduced to it, it is a complete culture shock.
• 37:59
  And if you're left of your own vices, you're left to survive on your own, it can be devastating.
• 38:06
  Folks, we're listening to Banu Malot describe his life in America since he's come here.
• 38:13
  See, uh former uh interpreter for our military.
• 38:16
  When we come back, he's gonna talk to us about the what has happened, uh, what he's experienced since being here with his family and trying to get his family to come here since the horrible attack that took place over the Thanksgiving holiday.
• 38:31
  So stay tuned, we'll be back after this brief commercial break.
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• 40:44
  And we're back with the last half of the show.
• 40:46
  Again, my guess is Benita Lot, former Afghanistanian who's now living here in America.
• 40:52
  And as he mentioned, he had he came here and he's been trying to bring his family here, which is one of the things that you're able to do once you come here to sponsor a parent.
• 41:03
  Unfortunately, he was able to sponsor his dad, so his dad is here, but his mom was left behind because he has two younger siblings.
• 41:11
  And for siblings, they can't, you can't easily sponsor them.
• 41:16
  So Malot, you want to explain to our listeners what happened?
• 41:20
  Uh what's happening with your mom and your sister who's 18 and your brother who's 17?
• 41:25
  Absolutely.
• 41:26
  So as a U.S.
• 41:28
  citizen, you can sponsor your immediate family, wife, and children under 21, and you can spend sponsor your parents, and it wouldn't take a lot of time uh for bringing your parents, but when it comes to siblings, it takes years, and based on my knowledge, I think it takes between 10 to 12 years.
• 41:50
  So uh that was the only child choice that legally my dad could come here, and when he came here, uh he started working, uh he started becoming a taxpayer uh resident.
• 42:03
  He is a permanent resident green car holder here.
• 42:06
  Then he petitioned for my mother and my young uh siblings who are 18 and 17, and uh they have gone through the entire process.
• 42:16
  We have paid all the fees, and uh we have submitted all the documents needed, they have gone through all the vetting process, and uh they finally had their chance uh to go on a visa interview.
• 42:31
  So they got out of Afghanistan uh last month, and they went to Islamabad uh to uh conduct their visa interview at the U.S.
• 42:44
  Embassy in Islamabad because there's no embassy in Afghanistan.
• 42:48
  And uh on December 5th, they had their visa interview at the embassy.
• 42:53
  And then what happened after that once he had the interview?
• 42:57
  Because it seemed as if though they were on their way to get here, but then this unfortunate situation took place, and then it was stopped.
• 43:03
  So if you could explain that.
• 43:05
  Correct.
• 43:06
  So back in middle of the year, President Trump uh signed a proclamation uh banning the travel of four-year nationals.
• 43:16
  Uh I believe there were 19 countries in Afghanistan was one.
• 43:20
  And uh my family on that visa category F to a uh they were already banned from traveling here, but whether uh we had put together a NIE or national interest exception packet for them uh that that included my the evidence of my service as an interpreter, all the recommendation letters, certificates that I have from U.S.
• 43:50
  military, my service here as a uh precinct chair in Dallas, a counter Republican Party, my elected official uh experience, and also I had the support from the Dallas Republican Party uh leadership uh on that packet.
• 44:12
  Uh so that was the hope, and that had the high chance of uh getting accepted, and we were hoping that they come under the NIE.
• 44:22
  But with the recent recent event, uh the terrorist attack that happened in the DC, and uh first of all, I absolutely condemn that act of terrorism, and I want to be uh completely clear, and my heartbreak for the victims of the terrorist attack and for their families, and I a prayer for uh Andrew's full recovery.
• 44:51
  So when they went to their visa interview on December 5th, uh everything was good, all documents were complete, they're completely qualified for visa, but they got denied because of uh the visa ban on Afghans that prison Trump uh placed on uh after the DC attack.
• 45:14
  So your your dad, because I want our listeners to hear this clearly, did it the right way.
• 45:20
  You were able to sponsor your dad.
• 45:22
  He went to the betting, he came here, got a job, started being and became a productive citizen and paying taxes.
• 45:30
  He didn't try to sneak in at the border, he didn't try to sneak in with the false identity, he did it the right way.
• 45:38
  Then you reached out to try to do it the right way with your mom, your sister, and your brother.
• 45:44
  They were going through the process.
• 45:46
  You got the hire an attorney, they looked at your background, you had people to sponsor you, you have people to vet you.
• 45:54
  Unfortunately, we had an individual who came here in 2021, compomissive Joe Biden, who just allowed people to come.
• 46:03
  And I was doing research before pre-work before uh we started the interview.
• 46:08
  And apparently, let me see here, look at my notes.
• 46:10
  According to Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, that under the Biden administration, 18,000 people from Afghanistan came here that were suspected of having ties to terrorist groups, came across the border, they were being vetted, and then Avril Haynes, who was the national director of national intelligence from 2021 to 2025 under the Joe Biden regime, told her men and women, don't worry about it, cut corners, let's just get them here.
• 46:50
  And of the 18,000, 2,000 were known.
• 46:54
  They had proof that they were involved with terroristic activity.
• 46:59
  But the Biden administration waived it and said, Don't worry about it, just come on here.
• 47:04
  Meanwhile, the news family, they're doing things the right way, the way it should have been doing, going through the vetting, speaking with the lawyers, speaking with the attorneys, getting people to uh sponsor them to say, hey, we know this person and they're good looking at the social media plat uh platforms.
• 47:22
  However, what happened on Thanksgiving Day?
• 47:27
  Once that took place, Trump put a halt to allowing people to come here.
• 47:35
  18,000 came who weren't vetted.
• 47:37
  We know nothing about them.
• 47:38
  2,000 of those individuals known have to are known to have ties to terrorist groups.
• 47:44
  This is compliments of the Democrat Party, who are also okay with the broken borders, who also said, Oh, we don't know what's going on.
• 47:52
  Oh, this is okay.
• 47:53
  We did our best.
• 47:55
  But they're busy attacking President Trump because he wants to vet these individuals.
• 48:01
  He wants to make certain that we know who's here, but he's the bad guy.
• 48:05
  Oh, Trump is bad.
• 48:06
  Trump is a racist.
• 48:08
  Trump doesn't want people to come here.
• 48:10
  And then you have activist judges who are supposed to uphold the law or interpret the law.
• 48:17
  Every time he does something, they want to slap it down.
• 48:19
  Look at what they're doing to this guy, Abrego, this guy who's been in the country since six since he was 16 years old, illegally.
• 48:28
  Umbrego Garleed, I think.
• 48:30
  And now they're saying that the judge came out and said, Oh, let him go.
• 48:34
  Free him.
• 48:35
  Now who knows what this guy is going to do.
• 48:38
  But Trump is a bad guy.
• 48:42
  Make sense of it.
• 48:44
  It doesn't make any sense at all.
• 48:48
  So at this point, Fenu, what is your family doing?
• 48:52
  What are the next steps for your mom?
• 48:55
  So one thing it really made us uh disappointed was that the U.S.
• 49:03
  embassy uh in Islamobad, uh, while they don't have the power or authority to issue visa when there is uh when there's a presidential proclamation on order in place.
• 49:19
  But uh what I was also disappointed is that they even refuse to accept the NIE packet for review and send it to Department of State here for the DC policy disk for review and have them uh to see if they want to grant an exception for my family or not.
• 49:40
  And that's uh really disappointment and kind of feeling bad because I have been a very loyal citizen ally since uh the time I become interpreter in my family has been the same, and they're gonna be the same as as I am, loyal and
• 50:00
  The good contributing citizen for the country.
• 50:03
  That's a disappointing.
• 50:05
  And right now, uh, I'm I'm going through the Congress, uh, my Congress uh woman's office, uh, trying to see if we can present that any uh NIE packet to Department of State and see if they can at least review it before uh completely denying the visa or completely denying that packet.
• 50:30
  And that's the only thing I'm going and uh I also have a message to President Trump.
• 50:36
  I completely agree with the strong measures he's taken to secure this country.
• 50:41
  If we have a secure borders, we have a country.
• 50:44
  If we don't have a secure borders, then we don't have a country.
• 50:48
  But the only thing is that I my advice for him is that do not punish the good people like us because of actions of some bad actors.
• 50:59
  The bad actors.
• 51:00
  And is is there a threat to your family, your your mom and your uh siblings now uh because of you having worked as an interpreter for the military?
• 51:13
  Absolutely, there is a threat because uh if Taliban, the terror, that terrorist group, if they find out that they are my family members, their family members of an interpreter who served for the US military, then I don't know what bad things that would happen on them.
• 51:34
  And right now they are in Islam about tax tax done on a tourist visa, and that visa is about to end, and they're about to go back to Afghanistan if I'm not being able to bring them here, if the prison Trump's visa venus is still in place.
• 51:49
  I don't know what's gonna happen today.
• 51:52
  Right.
• 51:52
  And see, and this is what happens, and I say this all the time to our listeners and to those who are new listening to it after dark, you know.
• 52:00
  Uh, voting has consequences, and we have laws for a reason.
• 52:04
  And when people break laws, who have no intention of keeping the laws, innocent people are impacted by this, and we see this on a daily basis.
• 52:18
  This could have all been avoided.
• 52:20
  Had the Biden administration done their job, done their due diligence.
• 52:24
  What was the rush and allowing so many people to come here unvetted?
• 52:29
  Why the rush?
• 52:31
  And then once they came here, when the Trump administration started trying to figure out who's here, as he said so many times, we need to know who's in our country, then it becomes it becomes a racist issue.
• 52:42
  Oh, this is racist.
• 52:43
  This is not racist.
• 52:45
  You're trying to protect the citizens who are here now, the good law abiding citizens.
• 52:51
  And this thing with racism, they throw it.
• 52:54
  I mean, it's like a credit card, they throw it all the time.
• 52:56
  If they want to shut down the conversation, say that it's about racism, and we'll shut it down.
• 53:00
  No, we've got to stop that.
• 53:01
  We've got to move away from that because innocent people are being impacted.
• 53:05
  Had this guy on Thanksgiving Day been vetted accordingly, had they been watching him, that would have never happened.
• 53:13
  But it did happen, and we've got to find a way to stop it.
• 53:17
  So Trump is doing what he feels he needs to do.
• 53:19
  Like you said, it's unfortunate.
• 53:20
  You support what he's doing, but then your family who's there who can be in harm's way because you worked with the military.
• 53:27
  You did what you were supposed to do.
• 53:30
  And unfortunately, someone else didn't do it.
• 53:32
  Now, in the small period of time that we have now, I want to talk to you briefly about the uh your knowledge of the epic city that was being built in Texas.
• 53:43
  Are you familiar with that?
• 53:46
  I think I have I'm familiar a little bit about it.
• 53:54
  And all I'll ask is what are your thoughts?
• 53:58
  Do you think that the governor did the right thing by stopping it?
• 54:03
  So I think there is only one law.
• 54:06
  There is only one law, one federal law, one state law, and taxas and locals, they have their own law, and we cannot have we cannot implement other laws.
• 54:18
  We cannot build communities that discriminate other races, other religions, and other uh type of people.
• 54:29
  And if you want to build communities, built for everyone and follow that one law.
• 54:35
  But if you want to build the type of community that you want to build your own law, you want certain type of people with certain religion to live there, I think that's a problem.
• 54:46
  And thus possible, we don't want to.
• 54:49
  I agree with you, correct?
• 54:50
  Right, because the only thing it does is that we only have one law that's the United States Constitution.
• 54:54
  When you start trying to go outside of that, then again, why come here?
• 54:58
  If you came here, or those some of them who did come saying that we wanted to escape, we wanted a sideline, we want to escape the oppressive regime of our country, then why are you trying to bring that here to the United States?
• 55:10
  Not gonna work, is not good, and we have to stand up and call it out.
• 55:14
  Now, in the last couple of seconds that we have here, Pinu again, I want to thank you for coming on.
• 55:19
  What is your message to others who are coming here?
• 55:26
  Some who refuse to assimilate, who refuse to accept the laws of our country, and what is your message to those who get it and they're trying to do the right thing.
• 55:36
  What would you say to those groups?
• 55:40
  My message is first of all, when you're escaping that country, and you want to come to another country, and you're coming for a reason, right?
• 55:52
  You're coming to build a peaceful, a good life for yourself and your family.
• 56:00
  And when you come to that country, accept the culture, the traditions, and the way it's built.
• 56:08
  Don't create and impose you the way you the laws that you already escape from that country and bring it over here.
• 56:18
  Don't impose your way of thinking, accept their way of thinking, leave, build your life, leave a peaceful life, and be thankful, grateful for all the opportunities that you get to have in the new country, specifically here in the United States.
• 56:39
  So when you come here, build a good life for yourself and your family.
• 56:43
  Don't ruin this country, this place, and make it your home.
• 56:49
  You're done from that country.
• 56:50
  I understand that you have history of living there, being born there, but when you come, this is your new homeland, and trying to try to make it a better place.
• 57:02
  Well, I couldn't have said that better myself.
• 57:05
  My guest today was Peno Malot, who's a former interpreter for the US military.
• 57:09
  He is now an American citizens.
• 57:12
  Thank you.
• 57:12
  We need more people like you to think that way.
• 57:14
  You've been listening to After Dark on the America Outlaw Talk Radio Network.
• 57:17
  We will bring PNU back for additional conversation in the future.
• 57:21
  Until then, God bless, be safe.
• 57:24
  And I hope you'll join us again tomorrow.