The Trump administration has enacted a sweeping freeze on visitor visas for individuals holding Palestinian Authority passports, a step that blocks thousands of people who were planning to travel to the United States for health treatments, studies, or family reunions, according to a report in the New York Times on Sunday.
According to the paper, the decision was formalized in an August 18 State Department cable that ordered consular staff to refuse applications for nonimmigrant visas by invoking section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
This new directive widens earlier limitations that had been aimed specifically at residents of Gaza and now covers Palestinians from Judea and Samaria as well as those living abroad. Palestinians who hold dual citizenship or already possess valid US visas are not affected, the Times noted.
The suspension of visas comes as several Western countries step up efforts to grant official recognition to a Palestinian state, a move Israel has strongly opposed and that has drawn concern from some US leaders. France and Canada are reportedly preparing to extend such recognition, with Britain expected to follow suit during the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.
Just two days earlier, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Palestinian Authority representatives, including its chairman Mahmoud Abbas, would not be permitted to attend the Assembly, accusing them of breaching past agreements and attempting to secure recognition unilaterally.
In response, Abbas’s office issued a statement voicing “deep regret and astonishment,” and pressed the administration to reconsider the measure.
US officials have insisted that the restrictions are consistent with American law and serve the interests of national security.
{Matzav.com}
The entire world wants Israel to share their tiny country with these Arab terrorists, but they themselves wouldn’t even allow them entry to their country. If this is not hypocrisy, what is?
But Israel must keep them as their neighbors.