Zareen and Ali are dear friends and colleagues of many of us and we know that they work tirelessly to advocate for the rights of people from their country of origin, Afghanistan. Both Zareen and Ali come from an ethnic minority group in Afghanistan, the Hazara, who have been brutally targeted by extremists; Zareen has written extensively on the issue for Ms. Magazine and other outlets.

At the present, Zareen and Ali are working to help bring 8 family members from Pakistan here to Baltimore. These family members have already survived harrowing ordeals to leave Afghanistan. They left Afghanistan with nothing. Zareen and Ali are the main financial supporters of them right now. While Zareen and Ali have been able to get pro-bono legal counsel for these family members, they want to file Humanitarian Parole forms to bring them here to the United states. The fee for each applicant is $575.00. Right now, They need help to cover the fees to file the Humanitarian Parole applications and for them to get visas. Eventually, each of the 8 family members will need a plane ticket to come to Baltimore and some support locally while they get settled and find work. All 8 of the family members are in danger because of their ethnic minority status and several were also being targeted because of aid work they engaged in while in Afghanistan.