CT refugees fear for their right to remain in the U.S.

When Madina and her sister left Afghanistan in 2021 to escape the rise of the Taliban, they did so under perilous conditions. Madina’s full name is being withheld because of safety concerns.

“My father used to work with the American soldiers. It was very difficult leaving the country because you're putting yourself in danger. Once they know that you're departing, or, for example, you're going to the U.S., they kind of mark you in some sort of list. If you return back, they can assassinate you,” she said through a translator.

Now safely and legally in Connecticut, the sisters are working to adapt to their new lives.

So is Nina Opansenko from Ukraine.

Opansenko and her two children left Sumy, a city in eastern Ukraine, under heavy missile bombardment in the first days of the ongoing war.