US State Department to deny visas to Gazans

Trump ally Laura Loomer warned of a “mass importation” of Gazans into the U.S.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

The U.S. State Department said it would deny visas to Palestinians from Gaza while it conducts a “full and thorough review.”

The department indicated that “a small number” of temporary humanitarian visas had been issued for medical treatment but did not give details.

The U.S. has issued a number of visas to those who hold Palestinian Authority travel documents in an initiative backed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; his office has not yet responded to the State Department’s move.

The delay in the visas came after Trump ally Laura Loomer criticized the issuance of the visas on social media.

Loomer claimed that the U.S. was conducting a “mass importation” of Gazans into the U.S., expressed concern that they may be affiliated with Hamas, and called the initiative an “abomination.”

She also alleged that the claim that the Gazans were being extended visas for humanitarian medical treatment was “false.”

Responding to Loomer’s post, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said he would look into the matter, and Rep. Randy Fine of Florida called it a “national security risk.”

Following the State Department’s decision to hold up the visas, Loomer called the move “fantastic” and wrote on X, “It’s amazing how fast we can get results from the Trump administration.”

An Ohio-based humanitarian group, HEAL Palestine, said that it had evacuated 148 injured people from Gaza, mainly children.

The organization said it had brought a dozen Gazan children to the U.S. for medical care in Boston, Atlanta and Dallas.

Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the national deputy director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), released a statement criticizing the State Department’s action: “It is sheer cruelty. It is literally going to put the lives of more children at risk.”