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

Members of a female robotics team from Afghanistan Robotic House, a private training institute, arrive from Herat province to receive visas from the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on July 13. At the urging of 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. The decision followed a furious public backlash to the news that the six teens had been denied U.S. visas. That criticism swelled as details emerged about the girls' struggle to build their robot and get visas. "The State Department worked incredibly well with the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that this case was reviewed and handled appropriately," Dina Powell, Trump's deputy national security adviser for strategy, said in a statement.