The United States government has suspended the issuance of visitor visas to residents of the Gaza Strip following a social media campaign led by far-right activists.
The abrupt decision has drawn strong criticism from humanitarian organizations, civil rights advocates, and international observers, who warn of dire consequences for critically ill Palestinian children previously granted medical access to the U.S.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Department of State said it would undertake a “full and thorough review” of the procedures used to issue a limited number of B1/B2 humanitarian visas to Palestinians from Gaza, particularly those entering for medical treatment.
“Pending this review, we are pausing the issuance of all non-immigrant visas for individuals from Gaza,” the State Department said, without specifying how many individuals were affected.
The decision follows a surge of outrage from U.S. right-wing circles, sparked by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and Trump ally, who posted claims on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that Palestinians “claiming refugee status” had recently entered the U.S. through San Francisco and Houston.
Loomer questioned the Biden administration’s immigration policy and claimed to have received text messages from “several U.S. Senators and members of Congress” expressing outrage. Public responses followed from Republican lawmakers including Rep. Chip Roy (Texas) and Rep. Randy Fine (Florida), who called the arrivals a “national security risk.”
The State Department’s move has alarmed humanitarian groups, who say the ban will prevent children with life-threatening medical conditions from accessing treatment unavailable in Gaza due to the ongoing Israeli siege and war.
“This will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring critically ill children from Gaza to the U.S. for lifesaving care,” said the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) in a statement.
Tareq Hailat, the group’s Director of Global Patient Affairs, described the decision as “extremely devastating.”
“We urge the U.S. government to reverse this cruel policy immediately. It strips Gaza’s children of their most basic human rights,” Hailat told Al Jazeera.
Another medical aid organization, HEAL Palestine, which coordinates patient evacuations from Gaza, said the visa freeze endangers dozens of lives.
“We have facilitated medical evacuations for 148 patients, including 63 children. This ban places many of them in jeopardy,” a spokesperson said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) strongly condemned the move, calling it an act of “intentional cruelty” that reflects the administration’s continued support for what it described as Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“Blocking injured Palestinian children from receiving medical treatment in the U.S. — often for wounds caused by American weapons — is unconscionable,” CAIR said in a statement.
Tamer Qarmout, a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, argued the move reveals the U.S.’s moral failure in Gaza.
“If the U.S. truly wants to end the war, it should stop supplying arms to Israel — not medical visas to injured children,” he told Al Jazeera from Qatar.
The visa suspension comes as Israel’s military escalates its assault on Gaza, where more than 61,827 people have been killed in 22 months of war, according to Palestinian health authorities. The United Nations has warned of a growing famine, widespread disease, and collapse of healthcare infrastructure amid Israel’s continued bombardment and blockade.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly pushing for the complete seizure of Gaza City, forcing tens of thousands of civilians into densely packed displacement camps described by observers as “concentration zones.”
While the State Department claims the visa freeze is temporary and limited, analysts warn it may set a dangerous precedent where foreign policy decisions are swayed by fringe voices on social media.
Meanwhile, far-right activist Loomer celebrated the administration’s swift reaction:
“It’s amazing how fast we can get results from the Trump administration,” she posted, while calling for more efforts to “highlight the crisis of the invasion happening in our country.”
