The United States has announced that it is halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a \u201ca full and thorough\u201d review, a day after social media posts about Palestinian refugees prompted furious reactions from right-wingers.<\/p>\n
The Department of State\u2019s move on Saturday came a day after far-right activist and Trump ally Laura Loomer posted on X that Palestinians \u201cwho claim to be refugees from Gaza<\/a>\u201d entered the US via San Francisco and Houston this month.<\/p>\n \u201cHow is allowing for Islamic immigrants to come into the US America First policy?\u201d she said on X in a later post, going on to report further Palestinian arrivals in Missouri and claiming that \u201cseveral US Senators and members of Congress\u201d had texted her to express their fury.<\/p>\n Republican lawmakers speaking publicly included Chip Roy of Texas, who said he would inquire about the matter, and Randy Fine of Florida, who described the alleged arrivals as a \u201cnational security risk\u201d.<\/p>\n By Saturday, the State Department announced it was stopping visas for \u201cindividuals from Gaza\u201d while it conducted \u201ca full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days\u201d. It did not provide a figure.<\/p>\n The US issued 640 visas to holders of the Palestinian Authority travel document in May, according to the Reuters news agency. B1\/B2 visitor visas permit Palestinians to seek medical treatment in the US.<\/p>\n \u2018Dangerous and inhumane decision\u2019<\/p>\n Aid groups have urged the US to reverse its \u201cdangerous and inhumane decision\u201d.<\/p>\n The Palestine Children\u2019s Relief Fund (PCRF) said the new restrictions will prevent children in urgent need of medical treatment from travelling to the US.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring injured and critically ill children from Gaza to the US for lifesaving medical treatment,\u201d the group warned.<\/p>\n Tareq Hailat, director of Global Patient Affairs at the PCRF, urged Washington to reverse its decision. \u201cThis is extremely devastating news,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cThe impact of this decision will be devastating. And the US must honestly reverse this decision immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n Hailat stressed that denying medical visas strips Gaza\u2019s children of their \u201cmost basic human rights\u201d.<\/p>\n HEAL Palestine, which coordinates evacuations for injured children and their families to the US, said it has assisted 148 people so far, among them 63 children in need of urgent care.<\/p>\n All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days.<\/p>\n \u2014 Department of State (@StateDept) August 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an advocacy group, has also slammed the US State Department\u2019s decision to stop issuing visas to Palestinians from Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cBlocking Palestinian children injured by American weapons from coming to America for medical treatment is the latest sign that the intentional cruelty of President Trump\u2019s \u2018Israel First\u2019 administration knows no bounds,\u201d the group said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is also deeply ironic that the Trump administration would ban Palestinian children seeking treatment while rolling out the red carpet for racists and indicted war criminals from the Israeli government. This ban is just the latest example of our government\u2019s complicity with Israel\u2019s genocide, which is increasingly rejected by the American people,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n Tamer Qarmout, Associate Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, said the United States has \u201clost its soul\u201d in the Gaza war through its unwavering support for Israel.<\/p>\n Speaking to Al Jazeera from Doha, he argued that Washington should suspend arms deliveries to Israel if it wants to end what he described as \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/p>\n Loomer, the far-right activist, greeted Saturday\u2019s State Department announcement with glee.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s amazing how fast we can get results from the Trump administration,\u201d she said on Saturday, though she later posted that more needed to be done to \u201chighlight the crisis of the invasion happening in our country\u201d.<\/p>\n While I appreciate the State Department and @marcorubio<\/a> issuing this statement, I want to press even harder to highlight the crisis of the invasion happening in our country. <\/p>\n The visas and arrivals of GAZANS to US airports isn\u2019t new. This has been drastically increasing in speed\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/mI5APTairz<\/a><\/p>\n