By MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer
President Donald Trump’s administration is piling new restrictions on Palestinian visa applicants, making it nearly impossible for anyone holding a Palestinian Authority passport from receiving travel documents to visit the U.S. for business, work, pleasure or educational purposes.
Palestinian applicants who hold non-Palestinian Authority passports may also face difficulties should they need a U.S. visa.
Since early August, the State Department has tightened what it says are temporary policies to boost its vetting procedures for Palestinians seeking to travel to the United States, meaning that virtually all applications will either be denied or not accepted for processing.
The moves targeting the Palestinians are part of the administration’s global effort to reform how U.S. visas are issued and crack down on illegal immigration — it has already resulted in several thousand student visas revoked, many of them for pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli activity. As part of that effort, the State Department said last week that it is reviewing all of the more than 55 million current U.S. visa holders to ensure they are properly vetted.
However, the steps taken against Palestinians appear more far-reaching than those directed at other nationalities, many of which include exemptions for official travel to the U.S.
On Aug. 1, the department instructed consular officers to deny visa applications from anyone suspected of having past or present employment or ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization or the Palestinian Authority regardless of their position or purpose of travel.
On Aug. 16, the department suspended a program that had allowed war-wounded Palestinian children from Gaza to come to the U.S. for medical treatment, following an outcry from conservative pundits.
Two days later, on Aug. 18, the department sent a worldwide cable to all U.S. diplomatic posts instructing them to reject all non-immigrant visa request from Palestinian Authority passport holders.
“This action is to ensure that such applications have undergone necessary, vetting, and screening protocols to ensure the applicants’ identity and eligibility for a visa under US law,” according to the cable, obtained by The Associated Press and reported earlier by The New York Times.
The suspension does not apply to Palestinians who hold non-Palestinian Authority passports, but they could still be refused if they are suspected of having PA or PLO ties, according to the Aug. 1 instructions.
Although the suspension does not apply to Palestinians seeking immigrant visas, the cable said that Palestinian officials applying to visit the United States for official purposes are not exempt from the restrictions.
Then, on Friday, in keeping with the guidance issued a week earlier, the department announced that it had denied visa applications from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and about 80 other Palestinian officials who were planning to participate in the high-level meeting at U.N. General Assembly in New York later this month.
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” the department said in a statement.
It said that to be considered partners for peace, the groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by U.S. law and as promised by the PLO.”
The Palestinian Authority denounced the visa withdrawals as a violation of U.S. commitments as the host country of the United Nations and urged the State Department to reverse its decision. There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority on the broader visa restrictions.
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