GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An Afghan man who aided U.S. forces in Afghanistan has arrived in Toronto with his family.
Rahim Haidary had been working to come to the U.S., but Canada was apparently quicker to process his application for a special visa.
It was a wonderful birthday present for retired U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Gerald Keen of Grand Haven. He and his wife Lynnette Keen say they love Haidary like a son; he calls them papa and mommy. They told Target 8 they are "excited and thrilled" that Haidary, his wife and his children are safe.
Haidary was fleeing the Taliban, who threatened his life and the lives of his family because he worked for U.S. forces as an interpreter. That's how Keen met him and came to care for him.
“He’s a young, smart kid,” Keen previously told Target 8. “We went through some pretty hard times with the Taliban, and the camaraderie that we built, and the trust that we built, I mean, I trusted him my life. I kind of took him under my wing.
“He’s just as much a soldier as I am because he helped the Americans and the coalition through the worst times of the war,” Keen added.
Keen was terrified that when U.S. forces left Afghanistan completely — expected to happen by the end of the month — the Taliban would come for Haidary.
“He’ll be the last one killed if they find him," Keen previously said. "They’ll kill his brothers, sisters, kids, wife and then, they’ll kill him. And they’ll behead him. They have no remorse.”
The Biden administration has been working to get thousands of Afghan allies like Haidary out of the reach of the Taliban before the troop withdrawal is done. Not all of them are being brought straight to the U.S. — some are being flown to other countries while their visa requests are processed.
The Keens are sponsoring Haidary's U.S. visa request and say they'll continue to try to get him to West Michigan to be close to them. They say they plan to talk to their federal immigration attorney about getting him across the border.
More good news: Now that the Canadian border has reopened to Americans who are vaccinated against COVID-19, the Keens can go visit Haidary soon. They say they "fully expect" to meet up with him and his family in Toronto in two weeks.
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Rahim Haidary's wife. ![]()
Rahim Haidary with his children.
Haidary, whose name Target 8 is now using because he is safe, previously told Target 8 that he hoped to get his five children to the U.S. so they could get a good education.
"One day they will be officers," he said when he was still in Afghanistan. "They will be doctors. They will be engineers."
And, he said, he hoped to repay the Keens for all the help they have given him.
“I am just wishing that one day, I will support them,” he said.
