This population is also equipped with a media that is fast growing. Reaching out to this community is an opportunity the government and corporations cannot afford to overlook.

A research by Tim eigo shows that early Afghan immigrants to the United States were from the upper classes, highly educated, and had trained in a profession. Most of these immigrants in the 1930s and 1940s arrived alone or in family groups and some were married to Europeans.

From 1953 until the early 1970s, about 230 Afghans immigrated to the United States and became American citizens.

That number, of course, does not reflect those who arrived in the United States to earn a university degree and who returned to Afghanistan, or who visited here for other reasons. Due to political uncertainty in Afghanistan, 110 more immigrants were naturalized in only 4 more years, from 1973 to 1977. According to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, resident alien status was granted to several thousand Afghans.

Large numbers of Afghan refugees began arriving in the United States in 1980 in the wake of the Soviet invasion. Some were officially designated as refugees, while others were granted political asylum. Others arrived through a family reunification program or by illegal entry. About 2,000 to 4,000 Afghans arrived every year until 1989, when the Soviet Union withdrew its troops. Estimates of the number of Afghan refugees in the United States ranged from 45,000 to 75,000.

As noted, most Afghans entered the United States as refugees in the 1980s. Since 1989, however, most have arrived under the family reunification criteria. In that case, a visa is contingent on the willingness of family members or an organization to guarantee their support for a set period of time. This process inevitably leads to immigrant groups settling near each other. Although the first Afghan arrivals to the United States were well educated and professionals, more recent immigrants had fewer experiences with Americans, less education, and, because they were not here for schooling, had fewer opportunities to become adept at English.

To reach the Afghan American community, we provide our clients with tools such as: