This program helped Afghan women learn to drive. Then Trump cut refugee resettlement.

Shakila Hotak turns the keys in her red Toyota. In Afghanistan, where Hotak is from, women are not supposed to drive, especially under the Taliban. But Hotak isn’t in Kabul anymore.

She now lives in Houston, which is where she was resettled as a refugee two years ago. She supports herself with a factory job that pays $11 an hour. 

Speaking in Dari, Hotak says through an interpreter that before getting her driver’s license and car, she used to commute to her job by bus. 

“I was taking two buses,” she says. “One bus, they dropped me to the pharmacy, and after that, I took another bus … to my place of work.” 

Her commute was roughly two hours each way. Now that she has a driver’s license and her own car, it’s around 35 minutes. And she has the freedom and time to do other things, like form friendships and take herself to the doctor.

“I’m leaving my home and I’m going to work, and also I go to hospital,” she says. “I drink tea, something like that. And also … I go to chat with my friends, gossip.” 

Learning how to drive and getting a license is a must for refugees and immigrants, many of whom come from countries where public transportation is more widely available. That’s why YMCA International Services in Houston has helped these drivers learn the rules of the road — for free and in their native language. 

During a class in late January, Innocent Tuyiringire led orientation for the driver’s ed program.

“Buenos días a todos. How are you doing?” he asked the class.  

This training walked students through the process of obtaining a driver’s license. It’s part of a program that launched in 2021, and it’s helped around 550 people, according to YMCA.

Tuyiringire asked the class why they’re attending the event. “First question is: Why do you feel like you need driver’s license?” 

One woman said in Spanish: “Driving is obligatory. Everything is far.” 

Another woman said, “There’s a lot of jobs that require a license.”

For many in Houston, driving is crucial for their economic self-sufficiency, which is why Tuyiringire teaches these students about things like insurance and child car seats and what to do when they hear sirens.

Joanne Pantaleon, who supervised the program, said her clients were hired for new jobs and kept their jobs after getting their license through this program, which was especially popular with women.  

“A lot of people talk about empowering women,” Pantaleon said. “You empower women by allowing them to get out of the home and doing things for themselves and not depending on their husband to do day-to-day activities.” 

She said she’s particularly happy that so many Afghan women signed up.

“Culturally, the women from the Afghan community stay at home. The fact that 100 Afghan women came to us to learn how to drive tells me that they’re on the path to integration.” 

At Farhnaz Azimi’s house in west Houston, she sat cross-legged in her living room on a red carpet. Cartoons were playing for her youngest. 

Through her son Hafiz, who interprets Dari, Azimi said she’s been “at home all three years” that she’s here. 

Her life has largely revolved around her home while her husband works and many of her seven kids go to school. She said she decided to get her driver’s license to run her home by herself — buy groceries, go to the gym and one day maybe get a job. 

She’s a step closer to that with the new Texas driver’s license she got through YMCA’s program. She pulled it out of her purse, smiled and said she was “so happy” when she received it.

Azimi is among the program’s many beneficiaries, but it won’t be taking new students anytime soon. 

Weeks after President Donald Trump took office, YMCA International Services in Houston suspended the program and furloughed employees because of the pause on refugee resettlement. YMCA wouldn’t comment further.

“That sense of empowerment is immeasurable, and not just being able to drive the car. But actually, that is the vehicle that connects them with the outside world, to independence,” said Zenobia Lai, executive director of the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative. 

Lai, who has worked in refugee resettlement, said programs and classes don’t just give people the chance to flee violence.

“The refugee resettlement program is actually a beacon of hope about America, what America is. We are losing a lot by cutting the program.”

Without a change in policy, program cuts and layoffs are likely to continue.