In a simple apartment in Spartanburg, S.C., Ahmed brews a pot of hot tea and a plan for a new life. At his donated kitchen table in this small southern town, Ahmed is nearly 6,000 miles from his ancient homeland of Iraq.
It’s not a journey he wanted to take.
Ahmed (a pseudonym to protect his identity) recently arrived here as a refugee of his war-torn nation. For security reasons, he doesn’t publicly discuss the details of his departure, but his refugee status confirms a grim reality: Ahmed fled for his life.
He’s one of thousands of Iraqi refugees to arrive in the United States over the last decade, as the American war in Iraq bled into the brutal rise of the Islamic State. Millions have fled the country. A small percentage enter the United States as refugees....
