Rubio defends State Dept halting Gaza visas after Laura Loomer takes victory lap for their cancellation

Source: The Independent

Monday 18 August 2025 09:40 BST


Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the Trump administration’s decision to temporarily pause approvals of visitor visas for the people of Gaza following an intense lobbying campaign from Laura Loomer.

The State Department announced on Saturday its decision to suspend the visas for Gazans seeking medical care in the U.S., including young children who arrived in recent weeks with severe conditions, as the region grapples with a crippled healthcare system and severe food shortages.

Pressed on the move Sunday during an interview on CBS News’s Face the Nation, Rubio argued that some organizations attempting to acquire the visas have “strong links” to designated terrorist groups such as Hamas. “There is evidence that has been presented to us by numerous Congressional offices that some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,” he said. “We’re not going to be in partnership with groups who have links or sympathies towards Hamas.”

Rubio said that “numerous congressional offices” had presented “evidence” to the Trump administration and that the department had received “outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.” He did not provide details on the evidence or the offices that presented it to the government.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/rubio-gaza-visas-loomer-state-department-b2809383.html