US suspends most visitor visas for holders of Palestinian passports

The Trump administration has enacted a sweeping suspension of almost all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders, according to American officials. 

The restrictions, outlined in an August 18 cable from the State Department to US embassies and consulates, bar Palestinians from entering the United States on nonimmigrant visas for medical treatment, university studies, family visits, or business travel, Caliber.Az reports, citing The New York Times. 

The policy applies to anyone using only a Palestinian passport, issued since the 1990s after agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization established a semiautonomous Palestinian Authority. It does not affect Palestinians with dual nationalities or those who have already obtained visas.

To implement the move, US consular officers were instructed to invoke section 221(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to refuse applications from Palestinian Authority passport holders.

“Effective immediately, consular officers are instructed to refuse under 221(g) of the Immigration Nationality Act (INA) all otherwise eligible Palestinian Authority passport holders using that passport to apply for a nonimmigrant visa,” the State Department cable said.

The State Department confirmed the directive, saying the administration was taking “concrete steps in compliance with US law and our national security in regards to announced visa restrictions” for Palestinians.

The decision follows a series of recent curbs. On August 16, the State Department announced a pause on visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, a measure that cut off a path to the US for medical treatment and other needs. On August 29, Secretary of State Marco Rubio barred Palestinian officials from attending the annual UN General Assembly in New York. The following day, the State Department specified that the ban included Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the P.L.O., and about 80 other Palestinians.

Rubio said the move was intended to hold the Palestinian Authority and the P.L.O. “accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace.”

Abbas’s office expressed “deep regret and astonishment” at the decision and urged the administration to “reconsider and reverse” it.

By Sabina Mammadli