PEC condemns Trump Halt to Medical Treatment for Palestinian Children
BY JIM DETJEN
The Lansing Area Peace Education Center strongly condemns the Trump Administration’s decision to stop issuing visitor visas to Palestinian children in Gaza who come to the United States for medical treatment.
On Aug. 16, 2025, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for Palestinians living in Gaza after right-wing activist Laura Loomer said that bringing injured and disabled children to United States hospitals was a national security threat. The department has provided no evidence that the severely injured children or their companions are a threat to U.S. residents.
HEAL Palestine, an Ohio-based group that has brought 63 children to Detroit, Seattle, San Francisco and other cities, said the children and their adult companions are being brought to the United States for life-saving treatment. Many of the children are amputees and severely malnourished. Virtually all of the hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed by U.S.-funded Israeli bombs and are no longer functioning.
Dr. Zeena Salman, the co-founder of HEAL Palestine, said the medical evacuations of Palestinian children in Gaza are a matter of life or death. “These children could not wait,” she said. ” Their lives are at stake and this mission is about giving them a future.”
Sean Carroll, president of Anera, a nonprofit that assists Palestinian refugees, said, “Children will lose their lives over this decision… If we are to be humane – and to be human – we should recognize that these children should be helped.”
The World Health Organization estimates that 14,000 Palestinian children in Gaza are in need of life-saving medical care. UNICEF estimates that 50,000 children have been killed or wounded in Gaza since the genocidal war began in October 2023.
In May, the Peace Education Center hosted a fundraiser in Lansing to raise funds for HEAL Palestine, which has brought children to Michigan to be treated for amputations, trauma, therapy and other illnesses.
The Center urges the State Department to immediately reverse its August 16th policy and help – not block – the desperately needed medical care for very sick children.
The Peace Education Center, a nonprofit volunteer organization, has worked for 50 years to promote education and action to end wars and militarization. It supports a wide variety of social-justice organizations in the greater Lansing area.
The center urges citizens to contact their representatives to protest this Trump administration policy. Call U.S. Sen. Gary Peters at 202-224-6221 or 517-377-1508; U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin at 202-224-4822 or 517-993-0510; U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett at 202-225-4872 or 517-993-0501; and U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg at 202-225-6276.
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