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Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas is pressing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to reassess visa applications for immigrants who entered the United States during President Biden’s term. This heightened scrutiny is suggested following the Justice Department’s disclosure that a Gaza citizen was granted a U.S. visa despite alleged links to a Hamas-led terrorist assault on Israel in October 2023.
In his communication to Secretary Noem, Cotton stated, “I strongly recommend DHS to audit all visas issued from high-risk nations since 2021, focusing on any potential connections to Hamas or other recognized terrorist entities.”
This appeal follows the arrest of 33-year-old Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi by the Department of Justice in Lafayette, Louisiana. Al-Muhtadi, a legal immigrant from Gaza, is accused of being involved in the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel that occurred on October 7, 2023.
The criminal complaint outlines that Al-Muhtadi is associated with the National Resistance Brigades, the military division of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which took part in the assault against Israel on October 7.
Federal prosecutors claim that on the day of the Hamas attack, Al-Muhtadi was informed of the plans and subsequently armed himself alongside others, crossing into Israel with the intent of supporting the terrorist activities.
Federal prosecutors allege that Al-Muhtadi learned of the Hamas attack that morning and subsequently armed himself along with others and crossed into Israel in the hopes of aiding in terrorism.
(L) Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub Al-Muhtadi photographed handling a firearm at his residence in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (R) Al-Muhtadi’s Glock with ammunition. (Justice Department)
Then, in June 2024, less than a year after the Hamas attack, Al-Muhtadi filed an immigrant visa application to live in the U.S. and met with a U.S. consulate official in Cairo, Egypt, in August 2024, where he claimed to have no involvement with Hamas or the National Resistance Brigades.
Despite overwhelming evidence on his social media that he was linked to Hamas, prosecutors allege, Al-Muhtadi was approved by the Biden administration to legally enter the U.S. and did so on Sept. 12, 2024, through the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Al-Muhtadi first began living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he secured a state-issued driver’s license, before moving to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he worked at a local restaurant.
“Al-Muhtadi applied for a visa through the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, falsely denying his paramilitary training and terrorist affiliations,” Cotton wrote in his letter to Noem. “Despite blatant evidence of these activities on his social media, the Biden administration approved his application, granting him legal permanent resident status and entry into the United States.”
As Cotton noted in his letter, following the October 7 attack on Israel, the Biden administration processed thousands of visa applications from Gaza citizens through Egypt — just like Al-Muhtadi’s case.
Cotton said the visa applications were often processed “without adequate review of digital footprints or terrorist watchlist cross-checks.”
Annually, the U.S. admits more than a million legal immigrants and a million more foreign nationals on temporary work visas. Through chain migration, legal immigrants, once they secure naturalized American citizenship, can sponsor their overseas relatives for green cards.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
