In a quiet suburb in the San Francisco Bay area, the smell of naan bread wafts out from the Maiwand Market and on to the street.
Fremont is known locally as ‘Little Kabul’, a home to thousands of people who have fled Afghanistan.
It’s become a sanctuary for successive generations.
National Guard members Andrew Wolfe and Sarah Beckstrom were shot. Ms Beckstrom died. Pic: Reuters
But this community is now in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s anti-immigration policy after two National Guard troops were shot near the White House, one of whom died.
The suspect is an Afghan national who was granted asylum in the US after helping the CIA during the war in Afghanistan.
In the wake of the shooting, President Trump said he would immediately pause asylum applications from Afghanistan and review the status of those who arrived since the US withdrawal from the country in 2021.
Afghan national Rahmanullah Lakanwal is suspected of shooting two National Guard members, one of whom has died. Pic: Reuters
Many Afghan refugees in Fremont see it as a form of collective punishment.
Nazi Hamini, who spoke to me at Jamal Farm, a fruit and vegetable market, said Afghans “say that because of one person we cannot blame all of them”.
Jamal Farm’s owner Mohamed Qasmi shows his fingers, blackened with dirt
Maiwand Market in Fremont
Picking out a rotten orange from a box, she said “there are so many good fruits. Only one is really bad. But you can see it didn’t affect the one right next to it. I think people are like this, too”.
When Nazi, 28, arrived in the US as a teenager, she said she “could barely speak just one word of English”.
She added: “But I have worked super hard to survive, then I went to college. Now I’m married, I have a daughter, and I have a beautiful life.”
Sayed Khalid, who has been in the US for six years, feels a renewed need to justify his presence
Thousands who have fled Afghanistan have settled in Fremont
Jamal Farm’s owner Mohamed Qasmi is an Afghan who has lived in the US for almost 25 years.
Like many here, he feels a renewed need to justify his presence.
“We work hard, look at my hands,” he said, showing me fingers blackened with dirt. “We just want to work hard.”
Immigration raids are expected to intensify in Afghan communities in the coming weeks.
The Trump administration says it is searching for people who have already been issued with deportation orders by judges.
There is the sense in Freemont that this is a community under surveillance.
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Sayed Khalid, who has been in the US for six years, said: “I know a couple of families [who] have stopped watching the news because of the pressure.
“And their kids going to school, they also think that they will be sent back. That feels really harsh because of the situation in Afghanistan, the way they have freedom here, the quality of education and also the permission for girls to go to school here. In Afghanistan, girls cannot go to school past Year 6.”
Sayed, who has a green card, is waiting for an appointment in the hope he will be able to become a US citizen, but his process is now on hold.
He said: “I’m concerned about the length of time that will be added, but we have to support the decision and help them with the vetting processes.
“I support vetting people who are here so that America stays safe, but also not punishing everyone for one person’s mistakes.”
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