US Halts Medical Visas for Gaza Children After Pressure from Trump Ally Laura Loomer
The US State Department announced on Saturday that it will suspend visas for children from Gaza seeking life-saving medical care, following an online campaign by Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer and close ally of Donald Trump, who openly calls herself a “proud Islamophobe.”
In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the State Department said:
“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.”
Loomer’s Online Campaign
On Friday, Loomer posted videos of severely injured Palestinian children and their families arriving in Houston and San Francisco, falsely claiming their joyful cries were “jihadi chants” and labeling them “HAMAS terror whistles.”
She also falsely boasted of having “exclusively obtained” the clips—though one came from a charity’s public Instagram and another from the Houston Chronicle’s YouTube channel.
In her posts, Loomer smeared the children—some amputees arriving for prosthetic treatment—as “Islamic invaders from a terror hot zone.” She then demanded to know which State Department official had approved their visas, even dragging Marco Rubio into the controversy while he was abroad meeting Vladimir Putin.
Loomer further distorted history, falsely claiming that “95% of Gazans voted for HAMAS.” In reality, Hamas won 44% of the 2006 legislative elections and lost three of five districts in Gaza to the Fatah party. No elections have been held since.
Far-Right Victory and Political Praise
When the visa program was halted, Loomer quickly declared victory, writing:
“This is fantastic news. Hopefully all Gazans will be added to President Trump’s travel ban. The US is not the world’s hospital!”
Her influence was amplified when Republican Congressman Randy Fine praised her on X, writing:
“Massive credit to @LauraLoomer for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura.”
Humanitarian Outrage
The decision sparked backlash from human rights organizations and medical charities. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, which has evacuated thousands of children for treatment in the US over the past 30 years, called the halt “dangerous and inhumane.”
“Medical evacuations are a lifeline for Gaza’s children who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure,” the group said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced the move as another example of “the intentional cruelty of Trump’s ‘Israel First’ administration,” adding that it was “deeply ironic” the White House blocked injured Palestinian children while welcoming Israeli extremists and indicted war criminals.
“This ban is just the latest example of US complicity in Israel’s genocide,” CAIR stated.
Wider Condemnation
The backlash even reached the tech world. Paul Graham, co-founder of Y Combinator, blasted the move on X:
“If Laura Loomer had been around in 1940, she’d have tried to block Jewish refugees from entering the US. And if Trump had been president, she’d have succeeded.”
This decision not only strips Gaza’s most vulnerable children of critical medical aid but also highlights the growing influence of far-right voices in shaping Trump-era policy—with devastating human consequences.