https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/17/palestinians-gaza-immigration-system

I spent weeks interviewing Palestinians from Gaza and investigating the Kafkaesque nightmare they face when seeking refuge in the United States–if they’re even able to flee Gaza. I found out that though the US took in more refugees in 2024 than any other year since 1995, it has hardly resettled anyone from Gaza since the start of the war.

Despite the scale of Israeli state violence against Palestinians, it is rarely considered by the US in refugee and asylum claims. The only refugee from Gaza who I could find had been resettled in the US in the past 14 months had to prove persecution by someone other than Israel, even after surviving an airstrike on their home while their family was inside.

Mike Casey, a US diplomat who helped resettle this refugee in the US said: “If I tried to justify it saying they can’t go back to Gaza because of Israeli threats, it would have never been approved.” Casey and has since resigned from the Office of Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem.

Palestinians aren’t allowed to register as “Palestinian” with USCIS and are officially required to claim citizenship of a neighboring country, even if they’ve never been to that country.

Though they make up one of the largest refugee groups in the world, Palestinians are largely excluded from the international refugee system. This state of limbo since 1948 has created bureaucratic barriers unique to them–a hellscape of exile, statelessness and erasure.

Have a read, let me know what you think and please reach out if you have other stories like this that I should look into.