Afghan girls robotics team gets visas

Can travel to U.S. for competition

A group of Afghan girls initially denied admission to the United States to attend a global robotics competition will be here next week after all.

Following widespread news coverage of the State Department’s refusal to grant one-week travel visas to student teams in Afghanistan and Gambia for the international FIRST Global Challenge in Washington, D.C., officials on Wednesday changed their mind.

The backlash, especially concerning the all-girls team from Afghanistan, caused President Donald Trump to advocate on their behalf.

“The State Department worked incredibly well with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that this case was reviewed and handled appropriately,” Dina Powell, Mr. Trump’s deputy national security adviser for strategy, said in a published statement. “We could not be prouder of this delegation of young women who are also scientists — they represent the best of the Afghan people and embody the promise that their aspirations can be fulfilled. They are future leaders of Afghanistan and strong ambassadors for their country.”

The Afghan girls had gone through the visa process twice, each time being denied.

Late Wednesday, FIRST Global issued a statement praising the decision to allow the teams to participate. The team from Gambia had its visas approved last week.

“I truly believe our greatest power is the power to convene nations, to bring people together in the pursuit of a common goal and prove that our similarities greatly outweigh our differences,” said FIRST Global’s president, former Navy Adm. and Congressman Joe Sestak.

He noted that teams from Yemen, Libya, Vanuatu and Morocco also received approval to participate this week, meaning that all 163 teams from 157 countries will attend.

The president’s daughter Ivanka Trump tweeted about the change Wednesday afternoon.

“I look forward to welcoming this brilliant team of Afghan girls, and their competitors, to Washington, D.C. next week! #WomenInSTEM.”