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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that the State Department suspended visitor visas for Gazans because it received \u201cevidence\u201d that some organizations facilitating the visas to the US \u201chave strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,\u201d without providing further details.\n <\/p>\n \n The State Department announced in a post on X <\/a> on Saturday that it would halt all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza as it reviews the process that allows them to temporarily enter the US for medical and humanitarian reasons.\n <\/p>\n \n Rubio told CBS\u2019 \u201cFace the Nation\u201d on Sunday that \u201cevidence\u201d had been presented to the Trump administration by \u201cnumerous congressional offices\u201d and that the department had received \u201coutreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n He did not give details on the evidence or the offices that presented it. Far-right Trump ally Laura Loomer has taken credit for the pause in the visas following her claims that the families arriving from Gaza \u201cthreaten our national security.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Loomer specifically criticized HEAL Palestine, an American nonprofit dedicated to providing critical aid to Palestinian families, including bringing kids suffering from severe injuries, psychological trauma and malnourishment to receive care in the US. The group says<\/a> it has evacuated 63 injured children and 148 total people.\n <\/p>\n \n The group, which returns Palestinians back to the Middle East after they are treated in US hospitals, criticized the Trump administration\u2019s move to halt visitor visas, saying in a statement<\/a> on Sunday, \u201cthis is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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