…. but Mom is going home to Iraq.
We first told you about Firas Taresh, an Iraqi man, who had been resettled on Long Island with his younger brother and mother back in September. His story about joblessness was among the first we posted on unemployed Iraqis. This is an update. He has a job. From the East Hampton Star:
Next week, the 33-year-old Iraqi refugee, who settled on the South Fork with his family in August, will begin working at Symbion Power, an engineering company in Washington, D.C. Symbion focuses on the transmission and distribution of electricity in the Middle East. Mr. Taresh will be in an administrative job, and sees an opportunity to contribute to the company’s foreign projects, many of which are based in Iraq.
Even before the war he had wanted to come to America.
“I dreamed of coming to the United States all my life, but never as a refugee,” he said. “I thought maybe as an immigrant, as a skilled worker or a student with a scholarship, but as a refugee? I never imagined something like this.”
Catholic Charities wasn’t much help.
Mr. Taresh also never imagined how difficult it would be to find a job. He said he applied to Bechtel more than 50 times, and each time was turned down. Meetings with representatives of Catholic Charities, a local partner of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, did not yield the results he was given to expect, such as cash assistance and food stamps. His younger brother is the only member of the family who has gotten health insurance. “There is no explanation,” he said. “I never imagined I was going to face the difficulties I am facing in this country.”
We continue to be puzzled why many of these Iraqi refugees say they “were given to expect” better living conditions in the US. Who misled them?
His brother and sister, still in Iraq, say things are improving and so Mom is going home.
His mother, he said, has had a much more difficult time adjusting, and hopes to go home. “Insha’Allah,” she said, or “God willing.” A few weeks ago, Mr. Taresh took his mother to Washington to get her passport renewed.