Monday July 17, 2017
Washington (BNA) Twice rejected for U.S. visas, an all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan arrived in Washington early Saturday after an intervention by President Donald Trump.
The six-girl team and a chaperone completed their journey just after midnight from their hometown of Herat to enter their ball-sorting robot in the three-day high school competition that starts today in the U.S. capital. Awaiting them at the gate at Washington Dulles International Airport were a U.S. special envoy and Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib, who described it as a moment of celebration for his nation. "Seventeen years ago, this would not have been possible at all," Mohib said. "They represent our aspirations and resilience despite having been brought up in a perpetual conflict. These girls will be proving to the world and the nation that nothing will prevent us from being an equal and active member of the international community."
In the short time since their visa dilemma drew global attention, the girls' case has become a flash point in the debate about Trump's efforts to tighten entrance to the U.S., including from many majority-Muslim countries. Afghanistan isn't included in Trump's temporary travel ban, but critics have said the ban is emblematic of a broader effort to put a chill on Muslims entering the U.S. The girls' story also has renewed the focus on the longer-term U.S. plans for aiding Afghanistan's future, as Trump's administration prepares a new military strategy that will include sending more troops to the country where the U.S. has been fighting since 2001. Defense Secretary James Mattis said Friday that the strategy was moving forward but was "not finalized yet."
Trump's personal intervention last week, using a rare "parole" mechanism to sidestep the visa system, ended a saga in which the girls twice traveled from their home in western Afghanistan through largely Taliban-controlled territory to Kabul, only to have their visa applications denied.
The U.S. won't say why the girls were rejected for visas, citing confidentiality. But Mohib said that based on discussions with U.S. officials, it appears the girls were rebuffed because of concerns that they would not return to Afghanistan. It's a fate that has beset many Afghans seeking entry to the U.S. in recent years as continuing violence and economic challenges lead many to seek asylum in America, or to travel through the U.S. to Canada to try to resettle there.
As the team's case gained attention, Trump intervened by asking National Security Council officials to find a way for them to travel, officials said. Ultimately, the State Department, which adjudicates visa applications, asked the Homeland Security Department to let them in on "parole," a temporary status used only in exceptional circumstances to let in someone who is otherwise ineligible to enter the country. The U.S. granted parole after determining that it constituted a "significant public benefit." Ambassador Alice Wells, the acting U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, downplayed concerns that the girls might use the parole to stay in the U.S. or go to Canada.
nwaonline
