US suspends visas for Gazans after far-right influencer posts

Arab News

15 hours ago

WASHINGTON: The US government said Saturday it is suspending visitor visas for Gazans after a far-right influencer with the ear of President Donald Trump complained that wounded Palestinians had been allowed to seek medical treatment in the United States.
The announcement came one day after a series of furious social media posts by Laura Loomer, who is known for promoting racist conspiracy theories and claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job.
'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,' the State Department, which is led by Marco Rubio, wrote on X.
In a series of posts on X Friday, Loomer called on the State Department to stop giving visas to Palestinians from Gaza who she said were 'pro-HAMAS... affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and funded by Qatar,' without providing evidence.
Loomer's target was the US-based charity HEAL Palestine, which said last week it had helped 11 critically wounded Gazan children — as well as their caregivers and siblings — arrive safely in the US for medical treatment.
It was 'the largest single medical evacuation of injured children from Gaza to the US,' the charity said on its website.
'Truly unacceptable,' Loomer wrote in another X post. 'Someone needs to be fired at @StateDept when @marcorubio figures out who approved the visas.'
'Qatar transported these GAZANS into the US via @qatarairways,' she said. Qatar is 'literally flooding our country with jihadis,' she added.
Loomer said she had spoken to the staff of Republican Tom Cotton, who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, adding that they were 'also looking into how these GAZANS got visas to come into the US.'
Republican Congressman Randy Fine explicitly commended Loomer after the visa change was announced, in a sign of her sway over some US policy.
'Massive credit needs to be given to @LauraLoomer for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura,' Fine wrote on X.
The Palestine Children's Relief Fund, a US-based charity, called on the Trump administration to 'reverse this dangerous and inhumane decision.'
Over the last 30 years the charity has evacuated thousands of Palestinian children to the US for medical care, it said a statement.
'Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza.'
Though Loomer holds no official position, she wields significant power, and is reported to have successfully pushed for the dismissal of several senior US security officials she deemed disloyal to Trump.
In July, Loomer took aim at a job offer made to a highly qualified Biden-era official for a prestigious position at the West Point military academy. The Pentagon rescinded the offer one day later.
Trump also fired the head of the highly sensitive National Security Agency, Timothy Haugh, and his deputy Wendy Noble in April at the apparent urging of Loomer, after she met with the president at the White House.
'No other content creator or journalist has gotten as many Biden holdovers fired from the Trump admin!' Loomer posted on X Saturday.