Fleeing lawmakers have to come back at some time, says Texas lieutenant governor
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San Francisco Chronicle
22 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it." Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate 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 on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine." A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children" to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year.
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Pence Welcomes Trump's D.C. Deployment of National Guard
Former Vice President Mike Pence, who pushed for earlier deployment of National Guard troops to the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, said on Sunday that he welcomed President Trump's recent decision to send federal troops to Washington to combat crime. In an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union,' Mr. Pence was asked about Mr. Trump's aggressive push of federal troops compared with his lack of urgency on Jan. 6, when it took hours for the Guard to arrive. In response, Mr. Pence inhaled and shrugged his shoulders. 'Well, Jan. 6 was a tragic day, but I know we did our duty that day, I wish the president would have done more,' he said. 'But I welcome his decision to deploy the National Guard and essentially federalize the D.C. Police Department.' 'I think is important what the president is doing and I fully support it,' he added. 'I think the American people welcome the president taking decisive action to ensure the streets of our nation's capital are safe.' Back on Jan. 6, an angry mob chanting 'hang Mike Pence' at one point came within 40 feet of the vice president. Mr. Pence was critical in trying to move National Guard forces to the Capitol, but Mr. Trump initially refused, even as police officers were overrun. Last week, Mr. Trump said he needed to send federal troops to protect Washington because the nation's capital had been overrun with 'violent gangs and blood thirsty criminals,' misstating crime data to justify the action. Already, 800 National Guard troops have been deployed from the D.C. National Guard. At Mr. Trump's request, an additional 700 troops are being deployed by the governors of West Virginia, South Carolina and Ohio, all of whom are Republicans.
Fox News
23 minutes ago
- Fox News
Red states join Trump's DC crime crackdown
Former Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf comments on President Donald Trump's federal crackdown on crime in Washington, D.C., and his reaction to some red states sending National Guard troops to the area for assistance.
