The U.S. State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has announced an immediate halt to Palestinian visas after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on X showing Gazans arriving at U.S. airports.
Over the weekend, Loomer shared clips from an organization called “HEAL PALESTINE,” showing Palestinians entering the U.S. through the group’s medical program. She argued the arrivals posed a national security risk, claiming Muslim-majority countries should take care of Gazans instead.
“Heal Palestine is more than welcome to send the GAZANS to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan, or other Muslim countries for medical care. The issue is, these countries don’t want them because they know the GAZANS have terrorist tendencies. Are we supposed to endanger American lives so we don’t get called ‘racist’ by a Palestinian organization?” Loomer wrote in a post on X.
Rubio confirmed the freeze during an interview on Face the Nation, saying, “We are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas. We’re going to pause those visas … and we are going to pause this program and re-evaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship if any has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.”
Loomer later expressed frustration, writing on X: “It should freak everyone out that it took a civilian blowing the whistle on GAZANS coming into our country with State Department-issued visas as opposed to a government employee or terrorism analyst at the CIA flagging this.”
HEAL Palestine pushed back, stressing the initiative is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement effort.
“Guided by human and American values, HEAL is committed to offering hope and healing to the few young lives we can reach,” the group said in a statement.