An agreement from 1947 that specifies the responsibilities of the United Nations host country still allows UN employees and their families to enter the U.S. with relatively few restrictions.
As concerns about national security and immigration enforcement grow under the Trump administration, there are calls for a review of the host nation agreement. Specifically, experts want to examine the level of functional immunity provided to U.N. personnel and the limited scrutiny faced by individuals holding U.N. visas.
“The United States seems to have adopted a lenient approach towards individuals associated with the U.N. entering the country, whether as employees or representatives of different national missions. However, it is known that U.N. staff have had, and still have, connections with terrorist groups such as UNRWA and Hamas,” remarked Anne Bayefsky, who serves as the director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and is the president of Human Rights Voices, in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Gallo claimed that there is an epidemic of sexual offenses and misconduct among U.N. staff. He cited an incident in which a U.N. employee outside the U.S. sexually harassed “a young female in his department.” Gallo said it took two years after receipt of the investigation report for an investigation to be completed, which resulted in the demotion of the offending employee. Gallo said the employee who was harassed, and her harasser remained in the same organization.
Gallo said that if employees take part in misconduct while based at U.N. headquarters, the U.S. government should be able to examine cases and determine whether staff should retain their G visas.
Dugan said that if U.N. personnel “knew that [immunity] could be lifted at any time by us… they might start behaving a lot differently.”
China’s Vice President Han Zheng addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 21, 2023. (Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
In response to questions about whether U.N. staff have been accused of sexual misconduct in the U.S., or whether U.N. staff who engaged in misconduct have had their G visas revoked, a State Department spokesperson explained the department “generally does not provide” revocation statistics. They also said that “all visa applicants, no matter the visa type and where they are located, are continuously vetted. Security vetting runs from the time of each application, through adjudication of the visa, and afterwards during the validity period of every issued visa, to ensure the individual remains eligible to travel to the United States.”
The spokesperson said officials of the U.N. “are expected to respect applicable laws of the United States, including criminal laws. Failure to do so may constitute an abuse of privileges of residence.” They added that this “applies for those who hold diplomatic immunity for their positions as well.”
Among staff who have raised internal alarm bells is U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, who traveled to the U.S. in 2024 to deliver a report before the Third Committee of the General Assembly. Albanese, whose antisemitism has been condemned widely by senior U.S. diplomats and the State Department, was allowed to tour multiple U.S. college campuses while in the U.S.
In addition to qualifying for “rubber stamp” G visas, staff of international organizations like the United Nations can qualify for green cards if they have spent half of at least seven years of employment inside the U.S., or have been in the U.S. for a combined total of 15 years prior to retirement.
