Reverse Rubio’s Ban on Medical Visas for Palestinian Children Now!

I demand that you immediately reverse Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s cruel and unconscionable decision to ban Palestinians from Gaza from receiving medical-humanitarian visas to the United States. This abrupt reversal has cut off one of the last lifelines for critically injured and ill people—many of them children—trapped in a war zone created and sustained by U.S.-backed Israeli military aggression. This policy is not about security. It is about punishment. Punishing people who are already starving under Israel’s U.S.-funded blockade. Punishing those maimed by U.S.-made bombs. Punishing children whose only crime is being born in Gaza. For years, this program allowed a small number of patients—who undergo strict U.S. and Israeli vetting, pay their own way, and cannot remain in the U.S.—to access urgent care. It saved lives. HEAL Palestine just brought eleven injured children, ages 6 to 15, to hospitals in Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, and Chicago. One-year-old Saedra, born with severe leg defects, is now being treated in Ohio because of it. Without this pathway, children like her will suffer and die. The decision to end this program did not come from legitimate concerns. It came from racist political pressure, spurred by far-right agitator Laura Loomer, a self-proclaimed “proud Islamophobe.” That such voices could dictate U.S. policy is a moral disgrace. Our nation once recognized its duty to protect the displaced—after World War II, after the Holocaust. To now deny Palestinians the same humanity is a betrayal of those values. As former State Department official Andrew Miller has stated, every applicant already requires clearance from both the U.S. and Israeli governments. These children are not a threat. They are victims of war who deserve a chance at life. Secretary Rubio claims this “pause” may be temporary. That is unacceptable. Each day without reversal means more children abandoned to death because America chose cruelty over compassion. You have a duty—not to bigotry, not to political expedience, but to justice and to life. Do not allow Secretary Rubio’s shameful decision to stand. Restore medical-humanitarian visas for Palestinians in Gaza now.