Overview

• The State Department suspended visitor visa processing for people from Gaza on Saturday, covering groups seeking temporary medical‑humanitarian visas for children.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the pause on CBS’s Face the Nation, saying the review targets how applicants, accompanying adults, and facilitating organizations are vetted.
• Rubio suggested some facilitators or visitors had ties to Hamas, prompting a reassessment before any visas are issued.
• Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the halt in posts on X, urging entry for injured Gaza minors to receive privately funded surgeries in the United States.
• Greene also referenced the Las Vegas arrest of Israeli citizen Tom Artiom Alexandrovich; the State Department’s Near Eastern Affairs bureau said he did not claim diplomatic immunity, was released by a state judge pending a court date, and that claims of U.S. intervention are false.