US refusing visas to Palestinian passport holders, in unannounced policy — report

The United States has quietly instituted a blanket freeze of almost all types of visa applications by holders of Palestinian Authority-issued passports, The New York Times reports, citing four unnamed American officials.

While Donald Trump’s administration publicly announced on Friday that it will not allow entry to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and some 80 more Palestinian officials for the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York, the outlet says the new policy is much broader.

The temporary suspension covers “visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel,” the report says.

It does not apply to those who already have visas, or to Palestinians who have a second passport and use that other passport to apply for visas.

The policy was reportedly laid out in a message sent on August 18 by the State Department to all US diplomatic missions, making use of a mechanism — section 221-G of the US Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 — that is usually only used to demand extra documents or information from certain people to help make a decision on their request.

“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 says, according to The Times.