According to The New York Times, N.J. Sen. Robert Menendez and his staff engaged in a relentless effort to help Isaías, urging senior government officials, including Clinton’s Chief of Staff, Cheryl Mills, to waive a ban for her to enter the U.S. The senator’s assistance came even though Isaías’s family, a major donor to him and other American politicians, does not live in his state. The Obama administration then reversed its decision and gave Isaías the waiver she needed to come to the U.S., just as tens of thousands of dollars in donations from her family poured into Obama's office.