Getting the robots here was easy. Getting their creators to the U.S. proved a more delicate task.
When preparing to stage the FIRST Global Challenge for teams of teenagers from around the globe, Joe Sestak, the nonprofit’s president, estimated in December that up to a third of the entries could face problems getting visas to come to the U.S.
According to State Department statistics from last year, 65 of the 164 countries had 40 percent or greater visa refusal rates with their respective U.S. embassies.
Seven months later, 99 percent of the countries have been granted travel visas, a feat that Mr. Sestak calls “truly extraordinary.”
“No one has done more for [the competition] than the State Department,” said Mr. Sestak, a former congressman and Navy admiral. “I can’t say enough about them.”
At press time, Afghanistan was the only team denied travel visas, but that does not mean the team’s hard work for the past several months has been in vain. The Afghan team, based in Herat, mailed its robot to organizers this month, and FIRST Global staff have assembled a squad of Afghan-Americans to operate the machine. Members of the original all-girls team plan to follow the competition via Skype.
Several teams from countries listed in President Trump’s recently upheld travel ban — including Sudan, Iran and Yemen — have been approved for travel visas. Team Libya is still awaiting its official interview with the State Department, and there is even a Team Hope, consisting of young Syrian refugees.
Mr. Sestak said the easiest route would have been to fill the teams with as many young entrants as possible who had been to the U.S. before, but he added that one of the goals of the gathering is to broaden the appeal and access to scientific literacy. FIRST Global representatives conducted their own screenings of the team’s players prior to applying to the State Department for visas, and Mr. Sestak personally sends a memorandum to each team’s U.S. embassy prior the official interview.
A vast majority of the competitors gathering next week in Washington have never been to U.S., making the travel visa success rate even more gratifying.
“The military can stop problems, but it can’t fix them,” said Mr. Sestak, who served in the Navy for over 30 years. “This [event] is trying to fix something. I’m not a robotics guy. This is why I’m doing this.”
Despite the high approval rate, there has been grumbling about the failure of Team Afghanistan to secure visas. The Council on American-Islamic Relations last week criticized the State Department for not permitting the team to come.
“We, as a nation, should be welcoming and honoring these outstanding young people, not barring them from entry,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “This inexplicable decision on the part of government officials sends a negative message to youth worldwide who look up to our nation and value its tradition of free scientific inquiry.”
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