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NARRATOR: Four years ago, May Fathallah was working for the U.S. Embassy in the Green
Zone in Baghdad. She enjoyed her job, but she feared for her safety. Iraqis who worked
for Americans were often targets of intimidation. MAY FATHALLAH: They said that people who worked
with Americans, then they are betrayer. They betray the country and work with the enemy.
So this kind of conflict, it put some kind of different pressure on me and my family.
NARRATOR: In 2007, the U.S. government arranged to send May and her family out of Iraq to
Lansing. May now works for St. Vincent Catholic Charities, helping other refugees find jobs.
MAY: I'm still a refugee. Even now I'm a green card holder, but I'm a refugee, so when I
look at them, it touches my heart, because we are from the same level, from the same
situation, even though we came from different countries.
NARRATOR: May enjoys a lot of things about living in the U.S., especially driving. She
did drive in Iraq, but says it's different here.
MAY: The good thing here, no one look at you. No one say "Oh, she is woman." You are free
when I'm in my car. I know that no one will bother me. No one will follow me.
NARRATOR: May feels safe and knows that her family is safe. A few months ago, May bought
her first house, a duplex. She and her kids live on one side, her mother and sister on
the other. MAY: And my family, they are very close to
me, next unit. We worked hard together. It's not only me, it's all the family. It's a family
project. My sister worked hard, also my mother. The kids also. We are all together.
NARRATOR: For WKAR Public Media, I'm Gretchen Millich.