{"id":246765,"date":"2025-08-17T19:30:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T23:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=246765"},"modified":"2025-08-17T19:30:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T23:30:29","slug":"us-suspends-visitor-visas-for-gazans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/us-suspends-visitor-visas-for-gazans\/","title":{"rendered":"US suspends visitor visas for Gazans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the State Department suspended visitor visas for Gazans because it received \u201cevidence\u201d that some organizations facilitating the visas to the US \u201chave strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,\u201d without providing further details.<\/p>

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The State Department announced in a post on X <\/a>on Saturday that it would halt all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza as it reviews the process that allows them to temporarily enter the US for medical and humanitarian reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubio told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d on Sunday that \u201cevidence\u201d had been presented to the Trump administration by \u201cnumerous congressional offices\u201d and that the department had received \u201coutreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.\u201d<\/p>

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He did not give details on the evidence or the offices that presented it. Far-right Trump ally Laura Loomer has taken credit for the pause in the visas following her claims that the families arriving from Gaza \u201cthreaten our national security.\u201d<\/p>

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Loomer specifically criticized HEAL Palestine, an American nonprofit dedicated to providing critical aid to Palestinian families, including bringing kids suffering from severe injuries, psychological trauma and malnourishment to receive care in the US. The group says<\/a> it has evacuated 63 injured children and 148 total people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group, which returns Palestinians back to the Middle East after they are treated in US hospitals, criticized the Trump administration\u2019s move to halt visitor visas, saying in a statement<\/a> on Sunday, \u201cthis is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program.\u201d<\/p>

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As of May, the US has issued almost 4,000 visas<\/a> to people holding Palestinian Authority passports permitting them to seek medical treatment in America. That number also includes Palestinians living outside of Gaza, such as in the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rubio said Sunday that while a \u201csmall number\u201d of visas had been issued to children, \u201cthey come with adults accompanying them, obviously, and we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted.\u201d<\/p>

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\u201cWe\u2019re not going to be in partnership with groups that have links or sympathies towards Hamas,\u201d he continued, without naming any specific groups or providing more information to corroborate the administration\u2019s concerns.<\/p>

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CNN reached out to the State Department for more information about the evidence cited by Rubio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Donald Trump acknowledged last month there is \u201creal starvation\u201d in Gaza, breaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI see it, and you can\u2019t fake that. So, we\u2019re going to be even more involved,\u201d Trump told reporters of the humanitarian crisis.<\/p>\n

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the State Department suspended visitor visas for Gazans because it received \u201cevidence\u201d that some organizations facilitating the visas to the US \u201chave strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,\u201d without providing further details. The State Department announced in a post on X on Saturday that it would halt all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":188193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUS suspends visitor visas for Gazans - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/us-suspends-visitor-visas-for-gazans\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US suspends visitor visas for Gazans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the State Department suspended visitor visas for Gazans because it received \u201cevidence\u201d that some organizations facilitating the visas to the US \u201chave strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,\u201d without providing further details. 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