The U.S. has put a hold on visas for residents of Gaza following a backlash on right-wing social media.

The United States has decided to pause all visitor visas for individuals coming from Gaza while they conduct a “full and thorough” review. This announcement came just a day after social media posts about Palestinian refugees ignited strong reactions from right-wing commentators. On Saturday, the Department of State's announcement followed a post by far-right activist and Trump supporter Laura Loomer on X, where she claimed that Palestinians “who say they are refugees from Gaza” had entered the US through San Francisco and Houston this month. She questioned, “How is allowing Islamic immigrants into the US an America First policy?” and later mentioned that she had received messages from “several US Senators and members of Congress” expressing their outrage over the situation. Among the Republican lawmakers who spoke out was Chip Roy from Texas, who stated he would look into the issue, and Randy Fine from Florida, who labeled the alleged arrivals as a “national security risk.” By Saturday, the State Department confirmed it was halting visas for “individuals from Gaza” while they carried out “a full and thorough review of the processes and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days.” They didn’t specify how many visas were involved. According to Reuters, the US issued 640 visas to holders of the Palestinian Authority travel document in May, allowing Palestinians to seek medical treatment in the US. Loomer reacted to the State Department's announcement with enthusiasm. “It’s incredible how quickly we can see results from the Trump administration,” she remarked on Saturday, although she later added that more action was needed to “highlight the crisis of the invasion happening in our country.” This decision to suspend visas comes as Israel escalates its attacks on Gaza, where over 61,827 people have lost their lives in the past 22 months. The United Nations has warned that “widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease” are leading to a rise in famine-related issues. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been pushing to seize Gaza City as part of a takeover of the Strip, forcibly displacing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to concentration zones.

NEWS