House Overwhelmingly Passes Bill Blocking Oct. 7 Terrorists From Entering U.S.
The House of Representatives delivered a decisive message Monday: no terrorists involved in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel will be allowed entry into the United States.
The “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act of 2025,” spearheaded by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA), passed by voice vote without a single objection. The rare bipartisan agreement signals a strong national resolve to tighten immigration rules in the wake of one of the most brutal terror attacks in recent memory.
The bill targets anyone who “carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to or otherwise facilitated” the October 7 massacre, in which over 1,200 Israelis—many of them children, infants, and the elderly—were murdered in cold blood by Hamas operatives. Also named are members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a known Hamas affiliate. Eighteen House Republicans co-sponsored the legislation, including Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Ann Wagner (R-MO).
Democrats did not oppose the bill but took issue with its specificity. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) argued that U.S. law already bars members of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, such as Hamas, from entering the country. He said referencing specific attacks departs from the precedent of keeping immigration policy broad. McClintock responded forcefully, citing existing exceptions in U.S. immigration law for Nazis and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
“Does anyone seriously argue that we should repeal the sanctions against persons who aided and abetted the Nazis’ Holocaust?” McClintock asked. “If not, why oppose extending the same sanctions to the Nazis’ would-be modern-day successors?”
The bill gained urgency after the recent arrest of Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi, a Gaza-born operative accused of directly aiding the October 7 attacks. According to prosecutors, al-Muhtadi helped coordinate Hamas fighters, sent real-time instructions like “bring the rifles” and “get ready,” and was detected on Israeli cell networks during the assault. Despite that, he entered the U.S. in 2024 on a fraudulent visa and was discovered working in a restaurant in Lafayette, Louisiana.
McClintock pointed to al-Muhtadi’s case as proof of dangerous gaps in the system. “If this can happen once, it can happen again—and again,” he said. “This bill isn’t symbolic. It’s a firewall.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where a prior version stalled earlier this year. House Republicans are warning the upper chamber not to repeat that mistake.