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My Idaho: Afghan immigrant calls Boise home

Posted at 6:17 PM, Mar 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-03-29 09:52:09-04

IDAHO — From war-torn Afghanistan to the City of Trees.

An Afghan native's journey to America came with a lot of twists and turns, but now, this naturalized citizen and his family are happy to call the Treasure Valley home.

Abdul Mijidy lives in a nice, quiet Meridian neighborhood with his wife and four children, but life wasn't always so peaceful for the Afghanistan native.

"We had a bad time fighting between all leaders, between military, and opposite of military," says Abdul.

The Taliban threw Abdul into jail when he was eighteen, just because his brother was a member of the Afghan military.

"They take me to jail, and I had a very hard time in jail."

During a military attack on the location where he was jailed, Abdul was able to escape and flee into Iran. He would return to his home country and help U.S. Armed Forces and the Afghan National Army rebuild their healthcare system and help in language barriers between the two.

"I got a job with the Army based on my desire they give me an option of where I should work".

Because of his work, he and his new wife and two children found themselves on a plane headed for America.

But where in America?

"When I come from Dubai to New York, and in New York, a lady told me where do want to go with these beautiful children, I am going to Bee-Oz. She said, 'I didn't know there was Bee-Oz?' Ok, I pronounce it correctly now. Boise."

And now Boise is home, where he is the shipping manager for Coyote Prosthetics and Orthotics, a company that has seen great success over the years.

And now there isn't a day that goes by when Abdul doesn't pinch himself to make sure all of this is real.

"I love the United States because of the opportunity, we have the freedom, we have the law, we have everything here, and I'm lucky I have a normal life with my family. It's home. My home."