President Trump intervenes to grant rejected Afghan girls entry to U.S. for robot contest

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Under orders from President Donald Trump, U.S. officials have reversed course and decided to allow into the United States a group of Afghan girls hoping to participate in an international robotics competition next week, senior administration officials told POLITICO on Wednesday.

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The State Department dismissed the girls’ visa requests at least twice, according to media reports, though, citing privacy laws, it did not spell out its reasons. One common reason Afghans are rejected for U.S. entry is the concern that they will overstay their visas and refuse to go back home.

The girls spent months preparing their robot, designed to sort balls and recognize orange and blue balls by color. Despite traveling hundreds of miles to the capital of their war-weary country two times, their visas were denied by the U.S. State Department for unknown reasons twice.

The president became aware of the case and asked officials at the National Security Council to see what they could do. After those officials talked to counterparts at various agencies, the Department of Homeland Security agreed to allow the girls in on a system known as “parole,” which will allow them to stay in the United States for 10 days, though technically not on visas. The parole authority is used in exceptional circumstances, senior administration officials told POLITICO.

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