Unanimous House vote bars anyone tied to Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre from entering US

Under the bill, any foreign national who carried out, planned, financed, supported, or otherwise facilitated the Oct. 7 assault would be permanently barred from entering the country and could be removed if already here.

By Aaron Sull, Jewish Breaking News

The House of Representatives delivered an unusual show of unanimity on Monday, passing a bill that would bar anyone involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 massacre in Israel from entering or remaining in the United States.

The legislation, officially titled the “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act of 2025,” passed by voice vote, meaning it cleared the chamber with unanimous approval and without members casting individual recorded votes.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Tom McClintock of California and has 18 Republican co-sponsors.

During debate, several Democratic members made clear they backed the goal of keeping Hamas operatives out of the United States but opposed the decision to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by naming a specific terrorist attack.

Rep. Jamie argued that just like Congress did not rewrite the INA to mention 9/11, so too is embedding specific attacks into statute historically rare and unnecessary.

Republicans countered that Oct. 7 demands explicit statutory treatment. McClintock said Hamas should be placed in the same legal category as those who aided the Nazi regime, noting that immigration law already singles out Nazi collaborators as permanently barred from entry.

“Does anyone seriously argue that we should repeal the sanctions against persons who aided and abetted the Nazis’ Holocaust?” McClintock said.

“If not, then why would they oppose extending the same sanctions to the Nazis’ would-be modern-day successors, who just two years ago slaughtered more than 1,200 innocent civilians, including children and infants and the elderly, because they were Jewish?”

McClintock also cited the recent indictment of Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, a Gaza-born man living in Louisiana who federal prosecutors say took part in the Oct. 7 attack before entering the United States in 2024, as proof that existing law does not adequately prevent dangerous individuals from slipping through the system.

“New laws would be helpful to prevent a future Joe Biden from making a mockery of our sovereignty and reopening our borders to the most violent criminal gangs and cartels and criminals and terrorists on the planet,” he said.

Under the bill, any foreign national who carried out, planned, financed, supported, or otherwise facilitated the Oct. 7 assault would be permanently barred from entering the country and could be removed if already here.

The measure now heads to the Senate, where a companion bill introduced by Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Jacky Rosen has been awaiting floor consideration.

Supporters say the rising number of U.S.-based investigations tied to the Oct. 7 massacre may increase pressure on the Senate to act this time, but it remains unclear whether leadership will bring the bill to the floor with the midterms around the corner.