A voice cracked through the line, low and urgent as the Taliban took Kabul. An Afghan interpreter was calling an Oklahoma area code from a dim safehouse tucked between crumbling walls in the city. It was August 2021, only days until Kabul fell.
On the other end, U.S. Marine Corps veteran David Owens could hear children crying and the sharp edge of panic in the interpreter’s voice. The interpreter who once kept Owens safe was now hiding in a basement in search of refuge. Owens said all he could think about was being in that position with his family — actively being hunted.
Half a world away in Edmond, Owens listened to the man who had once walked the mountains of Afghanistan. He was a man who had de-escalated fights, navigated hostile villages and saved American lives. Now, the interpreter, whose name has been withheld here in the interest of his safety, was a target of the Taliban’s door-to-door manhunts for those who had worked for NATO allies or the previous Afghan government.
This story was reported by Gaylord News, a Washington reporting project of the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma is home both to veterans who deeply care about Afghans and to politicians who, at times, stoke anti-immigrant fear. The interpreter’s story is one of many about the deep relationships forged in war, the legacy of U.S. foreign policy and how Islamophobia and patriotism come into conflict — especially in red states.
Now, many people face a growing paradox between caring for those who supported U.S. troops and embracing a climate of suspicion as the protections Afghan allies were promised have been threatened. Among other policy challenges, provisions in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that passed Congress last month create expensive new fees for asylum, humanitarian parole and temporary protected status, while making applicants ineligible for social services such as health care and food benefits.
Owens served as a Marine Corps corporal while in Afghanistan. A highly decorated veteran, Owens was part of Fox Company and the elite Scout Sniper Platoon from 2002 to 2005, serving with the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines and later with the 143rd Infantry Regiment of the Army National Guard.
His awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the Army Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Presidential Unit Citation and the Terrorism Service Medal, among other National Defense Service medals. He also received the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service and Expeditionary Medals, the NATO Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.
Transitioning from combat to diplomacy, Owens was working at the U.S. State Department in Kabul in 2008 when he crossed paths with the interpreter. The two worked alongside each other for the next five years.
The efforts of Owens and his wife, Meagan, to bring his interpreter to safety in the U.S. were dubbed a “Digital Dunkirk.” A network of veterans, scattered across the U.S., scrambled to pull former allies out of the chaos where their past service marked them for death. Owens became one of those veterans, guiding his interpreter’s family out by phone, text and sheer will.
The veterans formed a digital lifeline that stretched across the country. Through every means from contacting congressmen to frantic Facebook messages, former Marines organized precise extractions.
When Owens coordinated a last-second opportunity for his friend to leave Kabul by plane, the interpreter had 20 minutes to reach the airport — the “longest 20 minutes” of the Owens’ life — for a chance to save himself and his family.
David Owens said he paced his home while his wife, Meagan, sat frozen, eyes locked on their phones, praying a stranger on the ground would keep the promise they could not reach across oceans to fulfill. The interpreter made the connection, and when his extraction was complete, he called the Owens family from a safehouse.
“Thank you, brother, thank you, sister, we’re safe now,” the interpreter said. In Edmond, tears and hugs of relief followed.
The Owens’ name and phone number marked clothing of the interpreters’ children on their way to the states.
Now, four years later, their safety may have an expiration date.
New federal policies leave Afghan refugees vulnerable
In June, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who is running for governor, issued a public call for the removal of “all Afghan refugees” from the state, echoing President Donald Trump’s proclamation in January banning Afghan nationals from U.S. entry. Drummond claimed those already in Oklahoma were “poorly vetted” and posed a “security threat.”
Meagan Owens called these statements fear mongering to an extent, adding she and her husband can only speak for the interpreter, not other Afghan refugees.
“I hope the attorney general is investigating the people they’re calling unsafe,” she said. “It’s out of fear, lack of knowledge and ignorance without knowing the people overseas.”
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Drummond’s statement rankled many Oklahoma veterans. Several Oklahoma-based veteran advocacy groups say Afghans were key allies to Americans. U.S. Navy veteran John Potts told The Oklahoman many others share his outrage over Drummond’s demand that Afghan refugees must go because, “one, we made promises, and second, [veterans] owe their lives to these folks and they deserve to be here.”
During the war in Afghanistan, tens of thousands of Afghans were hired as interpreters, drivers, engineers and security guards, risking their lives to help U.S. and NATO troops. But now that the war is over, some believe they became politically inconvenient — and in many ways, abandoned.
“I couldn’t imagine someone who earns and deserves to come to the U.S. more than him,” Owens said of the interpreter he worked with.
Oklahoma has received one of the largest groups of Afghan refugees in the U.S. since the withdrawal in 2021, mostly in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Around 76,000 Afghans were resettled across the U.S., including the evacuation of around 1,800 Afghan refugees to Oklahoma under humanitarian parole. Churches, veterans and nonprofits welcomed many, but some Republican politicians and commentators began to push anti-refugee rhetoric. Drummond criticized Gov. Kevin Stitt for welcoming so many Afghan refugees to Oklahoma.
“We’re just doing what’s right,” Meagan Owens said.
Her former Marine husband said there is an extreme process of government vetting for humanitarian parolees who served as interpreters. She added that taking a “blanket approach” to the entire Afghan nationality is an ignorant way of thinking.
David Owens said from spending years in Afghanistan, he knows “Afghans are just regular people.”
“There were no extremist sides, or judgement due to religious reasons,” he said. “They were very welcoming. (…) Just like us, there’s bad and good apples.”
To that end, a 27-year-old Afghan national pleaded guilty in June to a pair of terrorism-related charges for pledging allegiance to ISIS and pursuing resources to plan an Election Day attack.
“By pledging allegiance to ISIS and plotting an attack against innocent Americans on Election Day, this defendant endangered lives and gravely betrayed the nation that gave him refuge,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a press release. “Today’s guilty plea guarantees he will be held accountable, stripped of his immigration status, and permanently removed from the United States, and shows the Justice Department has zero tolerance for those who exploit our freedoms to spread violence.”
In April, the Department of Homeland Security announced it would end the temporary protected status that shields Afghans from deportation. The following month, the State Department notified Congress it was shutting down the office that coordinates continuing relocation efforts for Afghans.
The interpreter’s story mirrors that of the Vietnamese boat people — displaced by war, hunted by a new regime, and forced to seek refuge after U.S. withdrawal left them vulnerable. Many of those refugees settled in Oklahoma City.
David Owens’ interpreter and his family settled in Atlanta, with a government-screened apartment. The Owens family put together a donation drive for him and his family to help them get on their feet. One of the children just graduated kindergarten.
The Owens family is still receiving messages from Afghans asking for help, but they lack the on-the-ground resources they once did. While they are unsure of the interpreter’s current legal status, a trusted point of contact said he was undergoing the process of securing permanent residency.
“It’s a death sentence to be sent back,” Meagan Owens said. “There is no other option than to just keep him here.”
