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Afghan Girl Roboticists Denied US Visas (bbc.com)
Three anonymous readers share a similar report: An all-girl team of roboticists will watch their creations compete in a US competition via Skype after being denied visas to enter the country. President Trump recently ordered a ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries, but Afghanistan was not included on the list. Teams from Iran, Sudan and Syria -- which are on the list -- did manage to enter the country. The six-member team watched their ball-sorting robot compete in Washington DC via a video link from their hometown of Herat, in western Afghanistan. "We still don't know the reason why we were not granted visas, because other countries participating in the competition have been given visas," Fatemah Qaderyan, 14, told Reuters.
Why does the fact that she's Afghani matter? Why does the fact that she's a roboticist matter?
You are welcome on my lawn.
It matters because in Afghanistan, women risk being attacked for daring to get an education. The fact that these young women are a robotics team is an important part of the story.
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
Why does their gender matter? Quit being so sexist.
Have you been living in a basement for the past 10 years?
It matters because girls in much of Afghanistan are systematically repressed and mistreated, denied education, equal rights and privileges, etc. That an all girls team from Afghanistan is excelling in robotics is very relevant to this story.
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Their gender matters because as girls from Afghanistan, they would have been able to make a pretty good case that they should be allowed to remain in the US after being admitted due to conditions for girls in Afghanistan.
Exactly. The consular officer probably had concerns about them not returning to Afghanistan (or perhaps their chaperone) and that is then most likely explanation. Visitor visas are not a right, contrary to what many in the tech community seem to think. They require a finding by the consular officer that the visitor has sufficient ties to their native country that they will return to it at the end of their stay. A child with no job, parents with a less than ideal situation, in a devastated country, would have a hard time establishing this, and it gets worse if they are bringing their parents as a chaperone. Sadly, people get denied visitor visas everyday. It is part of life in a non-visa waiver country. It isn't just muslim countries.
So it has nothing to do with Trump's ban on those countries has it?
US immigration is a law unto itself and usually pretty arbitrary. I realise a lot of the world's problems are Trump's fault, but not all of them are.
Entry into a foreign country is not a right.
These girls did not have any of their rights violated. They applied for visas; they were declined. It happens all the time. It happens to foreigners applying for visas in the US; it happens to Americans applying for visas elsewhere.
In addition, their gender is irrelevant. This information has only been included to incite more outrage from those who feed off of left-wing identity politics.
There is no story here except for the one that professional victims and their allies are trying to create.
Of course, the same thing could have (and did) happen under the Obama administration years ago, it's just you didn't hear about it when it did, because there wasn't much political capital to gain by reporting on it. In fact, the summary itself undercuts the "xenophobia" narrative: why would the US let in teams from Syran, Iran, etc. if xenophobia was the driving motivator? Any time you apply for a visa to any country, there's a chance it'll be rejected. The US system in particular can be a bit capricious, which is a problem, but it's more of a bureaucratic problem, not a prejudicial one.
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
...Then I saw little Tiffany. I'm thinking, y'know, eight-year-old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters, this time of night with quantum physics books? She about to start some shit, Zed. She's about eight years old, those books are WAY too advanced for her. If you ask me, I'd say she's up to something...
This is at least the fourth story I've seen posted here where the "muslim ban" is referenced while in the same article it specifically states that the travel ban has nothing to do with why this happened. Such a BS biased tactic on the part of the editing staff both here and at the various sites that reported this.
Oh, the horror. Educated young women with interests in STEM fields. How would "Merica" ever survive such a thing?
Mr. Hu is not a ninja.
"President Trump recently ordered a ban on travel from six Muslim-majority countries, but Afghanistan was not included on the list."
But we are going to mention it in order to stir up shit.
I can't wait for someone from Canada to be denied entry for whatever reason and then some stupid fucker mention the Ban while explaining that Canada wasn't part of it.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.