Aisha Wahab has been in Congress for less than a month, and she is widely considered a point of pride for the tight-knit Afghan community across the US.
Aisha Wahab has been in Congress for less than a month, and she is widely considered a point of pride for the tight-knit Afghan community across the US.
As the first Afghan American member of Congress, Wahab has deep roots in the city of Fremont, sometimes affectionately referred to as Little Kabul, where she grew up, studied, organised for social causes, and worked her way up the ranks of local politics, starting as a city council member in nearby Hayward.
“What’s important about her work, her race and what we’re building together is that she didn’t just show up yesterday asking for our vote. She has been building and learning with us and alongside us for so long,” said Zahra Biloo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, at a recent fundraising event for Wahab at a ballroom in Fremont.
At the same event, Nahid Aria, a member of the local Afghan Women’s Book Club, who wore matching white outfits, called Wahab “a hero”.
In another part of town, Wais Omar is working on remodeling his family restaurant De Afghanan, a longtime favorite restaurant of Wahab’s, where she would often order marinated kebabs. He has known her for 20 years and describes the congresswoman as humble, down-to-earth and smart.
As part of the older wave of Afghan immigrants, Omar, who arrived in 1979, says he is proud of the younger generation.
“She’s shown the world that Afghan women can be anything they want to be,” he told The New Arab. “Everybody is happy. We feel like we’re part of it.”
Abdullah Danishmal, an Uber driver in Fremont who has never met her but voted for her, is also excited to see her in Congress.
“We’re proud of her,” he told TNA. “The position she’s reached is not easy.”
Afghans have long been part of the US fabric, with the most significant waves arriving in the 1970s and 1980s with the Soviet invasion, the 1990s, early 2000s and most recently starting five years ago with the US withdrawal of forces and the subsequent Taliban takeover.
Wahab’s family arrived in the US as Afghan refugees in the 1980s. Shortly after her birth, her father was murdered, and her mother’s died soon afterwards, leaving her as an orphan in foster care. She was then adopted by an Afghan family in Fremont, where she grew up and established herself. She did her doctorate in social work at the University of Southern California and worked as management and consulting before entering politics. Over the years, she has spoken about her personal history as a motivation for getting into politics.
In her most recent congressional race, Wahab’s campaign website highlighted her family’s history and her voting record after her opponent, Melissa Hernandez, supported with an estimated $6 million to $7 million from AIPAC, accused her of being soft on crime.
Wahab is now campaigning for a fourth time against the same candidate for California’s District 14. It is again a hard-fought race, though one where she will have the support of the Afghan community.
At the recent fundraiser in Fremont, she said that since arriving in Washington, DC all of her Uber drivers have been Afghans, and as soon as they recognise her, they extend their hospitality and tell their stories.
“They’ll say we’re extremely proud. It’s an honour to hear that from our community,” she said. “The reason why I say that is because our community has always had to face disaster and death and darkness. For fifty years, this community has largely seen war or been affected by war.”
“And all of us have had the experience where we’ve had different generations that have come to the United States and start from scratch. And they have hope in their hearts,” she added.
