State Department Announces Pause on Visitor Visas From Gaza
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The U.S. State Department on Saturday announced a pause on any visitor visas for individuals from Gaza as the agency conducts a review of the "process and procedures" related to the issuance of a small number of those visas on a "temporary medical-humanitarian" basis.
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer claimed on X that the pause was in response to her report that "unvetted Palestinians" were arriving in the United States. However, the State Department did not specify why it had decided to conduct the review.
Newsweek reached out to the State Department by submission form outside of normal business hours on Saturday.
Why It Matters
Following Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel's military response, the situation in Gaza has faced several significant and rapid developments over the past month as a famine has gripped the enclave, drawing broad international attention and shifting public opinion on Israel's operations. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention to occupy Gaza City in seeming contradiction to his earlier statements in which he insisted Israel would not occupy the territory.
Loomer has risen to prominence following President Donald Trump's victory in last year's presidential election and subsequent return to office. She has served as one of the loudest pro-Trump supporters in the political and media spheres and is seen as an influential figure in right-wing circles.
Loomer was present alongside Trump at times during his 2024 campaign, and has been tied to Trump's decision to relieve national security adviser Mike Waltz of his post, even as officials denied she played any factor.
What To Know
On X on Saturday morning, the State Department wrote: "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."
Visitor visas have remained a contentious issue for the second Trump administration, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this year announcing plans to more aggressively revoke and scrutinize student visas from China, which would ostensibly be in response to failures by college institutions to crackdown on student demonstrations against Israel.
Pauses on visa issuance in narrowly defined circumstances can delay urgent medical travel and complicate humanitarian coordination involving U.S. hospitals, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and foreign governments.
The announcement did not specify how many visas were affected, how long the review would last, whether pending appointments or already-issued visas would be canceled or resumed, or how the State Department would handle urgent medical travel during the review.
However, Loomer on X took credit for prompting the review, writing in a post that the department announced its pause "following the release of my reports yesterday exposing flights of GAZANS arriving at airports all across the U.S."
In her initial posts on Friday on X, Loomer took aim at the group Heal Palestine, a nonprofit founded in 2024 to "deliver urgent relief and long-term support to Palestinian children and families," according to the group's website.
Heal Palestine says on its website that it has evacuated 148 individuals, including 63 children, from Gaza to receive care in the U.S.
Loomer questioned how the Palestinians received their visas and further were able to leave Gaza, calling the entire operation a "national security threat" and demanding that whoever "signed off on these visas" should be "fired."
Newsweek has also reached out to Heal Palestine by email outside of normal business hours on Saturday.
"Who approved the visas? How many more are being given visas to come into the US, and why are [Gavin Newsom] [Greg Abbott] harboring Palestinian 'refugees' in California and Texas?" Loomer asked.
She posted several videos of people from Gaza arriving in an airport which she claimed is in the U.S. while comments under the videos said it was in Europe, possibly Belgium.
She therefore applauded the State Department's decision to pause its visitor visa program, writing: "This is fantastic news. Thank you @SecRubio for your prompt response to this invasion of our country by NGOS that have been accused of being pro-HAMAS," she wrote. "Hopefully all GAZANS will be added to President Trump's travel ban. There are doctors in other countries. The US is not the world's hospital!"
Meanwhile, Representative Randy Fine, a Florida Republican, credited Loomer as the reason for the State Department's decision in a post on X on Saturday morning and wrote: "Massive credit needs to be given to [Laura Loomer] for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura."
Loomer responded by thanking the congressman for "speaking out about this and sharing my report."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seen in Washington, D.C., on August 14. Inset: Displaced Palestinians attempt to fill water containers in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, on August 14.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is seen in Washington, D.C., on August 14. Inset: Displaced Palestinians attempt to fill water containers in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, on August 14.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images // AFP via Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer on Saturday wrote on X: "There are doctors in other countries. It's incredible isn't it how Qatar and Saudi Arabia rolled out the camels, Red and purple carpets and the most luxurious gifts and decorations for President Trump and his staff in the Middle East."
"If the Arabs have money to get flashy with Trump, they have money to buy some prosthetics for GAZANS or import them to their own hospitals and luxurious towns. They constantly brag about how rich they are. They want to shame the West into accepting more Muslim invaders. They think their bribes and flashy bling will make the West turn a blind eye. The Arabs need to pay up or just put their money where their mouth is and take these GAZANS they want to force on the West."
Representative Randy Fine of Florida wrote on X: "BREAKING: [Donald Trump] and [Marco Rubio] have immediately halted visas to Gazans that were being issued by deep state actors while we get to the bottom of how this national security risk was allowed. Massive credit needs to be given to [Laura Loomer] for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura."
What Happens Next?
The Department's post indicated a review was underway but did not provide a timeline, leaving the duration and operational consequences of the pause uncertain.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
a few seconds ago
- Boston Globe
Israel prepares to move Palestinians to southern Gaza as Israelis urge mass protest over war
Families of hostages fear the coming offensive further endangers the 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, just 20 of them thought to still be alive. They and other Israelis were horrified by the recent release of videos showing emaciated hostages speaking under duress and pleading for help and food. The families and supporters have pressed the government for a deal to stop the war — a call that some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs have made as well in recent weeks. Advertisement A group representing the families has urged Israelis into the streets on Sunday. 'Across the country, hundreds of citizen-led initiatives will pause daily life and join the most just and moral struggle: the struggle to bring all 50 hostages home,' it said in a statement. 'I want to believe that there is hope, and it will not come from above, it will come only from us,' said Dana Silberman Sitton, sister of Shiri Bibas and aunt of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were killed in captivity. Advertisement She spoke at a weekly rally in Tel Aviv, along with Pushpa Joshi, sister of kidnapped Nepalese hostage Bipin Joshi, a student seized from a kibbutz. 'I miss my best friend,' Pushpa said. A Palestinian man carried the body of his 7-year-old nephew Alaa Al-Toum who, according to the family, was killed in an Israeli army airstrike on Friday. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press Airstrike kills a baby girl and her parents An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed a baby girl and her parents on Saturday, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. Motasem al-Batta, his wife and the girl were killed in their tent in the crowded Muwasi area. 'Two and a half months, what has she done?' neighbor Fathi Shubeir asked, sweating as temperatures in the shattered territory soared above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it couldn't comment on the strike without more details. It said it is dismantling Hamas' military capabilities and takes precautions not to harm civilians. Muwasi is one of the heavily populated areas in Gaza where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel plans to widen the coming military offensive, along with Gaza City and 'central camps' — an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij camps in central Gaza. Israel may be using the threat to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages taken in Elsewhere, an official at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City said it received the bodies of six people who were killed in the Zikim area of northern Gaza, as well as four people killed in shelling. Palestinians struggled to get donated food at a community kitchen in Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Jehad Alshrafi/Associated Press 11 more deaths related to malnutrition Another 11 malnutrition-related deaths occurred in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory's Health Ministry said Saturday, with one child among them. That brings malnutrition-related deaths during the war to 251. Advertisement The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Palestinians are drinking contaminated water as diseases spread, while some Israeli leaders continue to talk openly about the mass relocation of people from Gaza. A 20-year old Palestinian woman described as being in a 'state of severe physical deterioration' died Friday after being transferred from Gaza to Italy for treatment, the hospital said Saturday. The U.N. and partners say getting food and other aid into the territory of over 2 million people, and then on to distribution points, remains highly challenging with Israeli restrictions and pressure from crowds of hungry Palestinians. The U.N. human rights office says at least 1,760 people were killed while seeking aid between May 27 and Wednesday. It says 766 were killed along routes of supply convoys and 994 in the vicinity of 'non-U.N. militarized sites,' a reference to the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which since May has been the primary distributor of aid in Gaza. People took part in a protest demanding the end of the war, the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Tel Aviv. Mahmoud Illean/Associated Press US stops visitor visas for people from Gaza The U.S. State Department on Saturday said all visitor visas for people from Gaza are being stopped while a review is carried out of how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. The Hamas-led attack in 2023 killed around 1,200 people in Israel. Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed 61,897 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. Advertisement The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. Associated Press writer Bassem Mroue in Beirut contributed.
Newsweek
2 minutes ago
- Newsweek
National Guard in DC May End Up Carrying Weapons—Report
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., have been told they should prepare to carry weapons in the nation's capital despite previous assurances from officials that the troops would not be armed, according to a Saturday report by The Wall Street Journal. When reached for comment, the D.C. Army National Guard told Newsweek that "Guard members may be armed consistent with their mission and training." Newsweek reached out to the White House by email outside of normal business hours on Saturday afternoon for comment. The Pentagon directed Newsweek to speak with the Washington Guard when reached by email for comment. Meanwhile, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's office told Newsweek it had no comment at this time. Why It Matters President Donald Trump ordered 800 National Guard troops to deploy to Washington, with the troops arriving on Tuesday. The deployment aims to combat crime in the city, even as crime rates have reached a 30-year low, marking one of the most aggressive federal interventions in local law enforcement in recent history. The deployment has prompted strong backlash due to the fact the administration bypassed the city's elected leaders, who have variously described Trump's directive as "unsettling," "unprecedented" and "dangerous." Washington officials sued the administration to block the federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), which prompted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to issue a memo that leaves the current police chief in charge of the department but also directs the police to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, the Associated Press reported. Anti-Trump protesters demonstrate near U.S. National Guard members at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on August 15. Anti-Trump protesters demonstrate near U.S. National Guard members at Union Station in Washington, D.C., on August 15. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images What To Know Administration officials had previously said the National Guard would not carry weapons, and troops who have already made the rounds on patrol around the city have done so without carrying them. The Journal, citing people familiar with the plan, reported on Saturday that those troops were told on Friday evening they should expect an order to carry weapons. As of Saturday afternoon, no formal order had been issued. A White House official told the Journal that additional troops may be called to D.C., and they may be armed, but they would not be making any arrests. The Army had stressed the lack of weapons in a press release issued Thursday, writing that the troops were deployed to "provide a visible presence in key public areas, serving as a visible crime deterrent." "They will not arrest, search, or direct law enforcement," the Army wrote. "While they will not conduct arrests, they have the authority to temporarily detain individuals to prevent imminent harm, ensuring that custody is promptly transferred to law enforcement authorities." Most notably, the Army wrote that the troops would be equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE), including body armor, and that "weapons are available if needed but will remain in the armory," while noting that "future requirements will be assessed and determined based on the evolving needs of the supported law enforcement agencies." The shifting framework highlights the tension in the capital and the unease between the administration and local officials. Bondi in her Friday notice wrote of the responses from Washington officials, saying that "unfortunately, the D.C. Attorney General continues to oppose our efforts to improve public safety in Washington, D.C.," in contrast to Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, "who is dedicated to ensuring the safety of residents, workers, and visitors in Washington, D.C." What People Are Saying Captain Tinashe T. Machona, a spokesperson for the D.C. Army National Guard, told Newsweek in an email statement: "Guard members may be armed consistent with their mission and training. Their presence is focused on supporting civil authorities and ensuring the safety of the community they serve. The DC National Guard remains committed to assisting the District of Columbia and serving its residents and visitors whenever called upon." U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi on Friday wrote on X: "I have just issued a new directive to Mayor Bowser requiring MPD to provide the services found necessary by my designee, DEA Administrator Terry Cole, to comply fully and completely with federal immigration law and authorities, regardless of any policies MPD might otherwise have." "Unfortunately, the D.C. Attorney General continues to oppose our efforts to improve public safety in Washington, DC. It is important to note that this same D.C. Attorney General is responsible for failing to enforce consequences for dangerous juvenile offenders," Bondi wrote. "We remain committed to working closely with Mayor Bowser, who is dedicated to ensuring the safety of residents, workers, and visitors in Washington, D.C." D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser in an open letter to city residents this week, in part: "...Over the course of a week, the surge in federal law enforcement across D.C. has created waves of anxiety. I was born one year after Home Rule became law, and while our autonomy has been challenged before, our limited self-government has never faced the type of test we are facing right now. My jobs are many right now. Part of my job is just managing us through this crisis and making sure that our government continues to operate in a way that makes DC residents proud." ...In fact, this evening, I am pleased to be able to report that, after a day in court and in accordance with Home rule, Pamela Smith remains our Chief of Police, and command and control of our 3,100 men and women at the Metropolitan Police Department. I am incredibly proud of how the chief has handled this experience." She concluded: "...I know that if we keep sticking together, we will make it to the other side of this, we will make future generations of Washingtonians proud, we will show the entire nation what it looks like to fight for American democracy—even when we don't have full access to it."
CNBC
2 minutes ago
- CNBC
West Virginia governor deploys hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington
West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Saturday that he is deploying members of the West Virginia National Guard to Washington, D.C., in support of the Trump administration's efforts to ramp up a military presence in the nation's capital. Morrisey's office said that the National Guard mobilization will include 300-400 troops, plus "mission-essential equipment" and "specialized training." "West Virginia is proud to stand with President Trump in his effort to restore pride and beauty to our nation's capital," Morrisey, a Republican, said in a statement. "The men and women of our National Guard represent the best of our state, and this mission reflects our shared commitment to a strong and secure America." The statement also said Morrisey's decision to deploy his state's National Guard came after a request from the Trump administration and that the troops would be operating under the command of West Virginia's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Jim Seward. In a statement, a White House official confirmed that the national guardsman had been called to D.C., saying, "As part of President Trump's ongoing effort to make D.C. safe and beautiful, additional National Guard troops will be called in to Washington DC — the National Guard's role has not changed. The National Guard will protect federal assets, create a safe environment for law enforcement officials to carry out their duties when required, and provide a visible presence to deter crime." The governor's move comes just days after President Donald Trump announced that he was deploying 800 members of the National Guard to D.C. and directing federal law enforcement agents to assist local police with patrolling and executing warrants in the city. Trump's stated aim of cracking down on crime in Washington comes as crime rates in the city are at their lowest levels in decades. Washington residents almost immediately began to notice an increase in law enforcement on the streets, as local police and federal law enforcement set up checkpoints in neighborhoods across the city. Residents and tourists also noticed the increased presence of military and law enforcement around tourist-heavy areas like Union Station and the National Mall. Initially, Attorney General Pam Bondi sought to take over control of the Metropolitan Police Department, but backed down after the city sued the Trump administration. Chief Pamela Smith remains in day-to-day control of the city's police force. Democrats have slammed the president's decision, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries calling the move earlier this week "illegitimate" and an "unjustified power grab."
