- British political commentator Sami Hamdi was detained by US immigration authorities over his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
- The US government alleges Hamdi supports terrorism. His family contend that videos used against him have been edited and that no evidence has been presented.
The wife of British political commentator Sami Hamdi said she has only been able to speak with him for “30 seconds” since he was taken into custody on Sunday over his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
Soumaya Hamdi told the Guardian she first learned her husband had been detained at San Francisco International Airport when a friend asked her to confirm rumours that he had been “abducted by ICE.” When he was finally able to call briefly, Hamdi only had time to say he had been taken to an immigration detention centre in McFarland, California, where he remains.
“We’re being kept in the dark,” Soumaya said.
She added that all she knows is that her husband was given a November court date as the US government seeks to deport him. The couple have three children, including a 10-month-old baby.
“I can’t begin to even try to explain how distressing it is for them to understand that they can’t speak to their father, whom they talk to all the time, send funny videos and jokes to, and do video calls with. Sami is a British citizen. He has been travelling regularly and often to the United States on a valid visa that’s not due to expire anytime soon. To hear through a third party that he has been abducted, effectively, by the United States government is incredibly distressing,” she added.
Hamdi, a British Muslim journalist and commentator of Tunisian and Algerian heritage, was in the United States for a speaking tour, something he had done on several previous occasions. On October 25, he addressed the annual gala of the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation. Following the event, Hamdi travelled to San Francisco International Airport to catch a flight to Florida for another CAIR engagement. Upon passing through security, he was detained by immigration officials and informed that his visitor visa had been revoked.
The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment but stated in a social media post that “the United States has no obligation to host foreigners who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans” and that it would “continue to revoke the visas of persons engaged in such activity.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, cited a social media post by press secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirming that Hamdi’s visa was revoked and that he was in custody “pending removal.” “Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” she wrote. “It’s common sense.” Officials have offered no evidence to support their accusations against Hamdi.
Hamdi’s wife called the US government’s allegations “outrageous” and said the videos referenced were “edited in a way to frame Sami in a horrible light and produced by an organisation that is very well known to be anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, Islamophobic and out there to target people who are speaking up against the genocide against Palestinians.”
Steven Stalinsky, MEMRI’s executive director, said the group documents “extremist Imams and Islamist organizations in the US and the west” and that “Sami Hamdi is one of the individuals covered by this project.”
Hamdi spoke publicly after the October 7 attacks: “That’s a very important message to the Muslims: we don’t celebrate blood lust, we don’t celebrate death and we don’t celebrate war. What Muslims are celebrating is not war, they’re celebrating the revival of a cause – a just cause – that everybody thought was dead, this is an important distinction … I don’t celebrate war, I don’t celebrate death.”
Attorneys representing Hamdi from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), immigration lawyer Hassan Ahmad, and the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) are challenging his detention in court. Legal filings include a writ of habeas corpus, a petition to contest unlawful detention, and an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) to block his removal and prevent his transfer to a facility beyond the reach of his legal team.
“If the government can cancel a valid visa because it does not like what a person says or believes, then anyone legally visiting, studying, or working in our country—whether conservative or liberal, religious or secular—would be in danger of abduction and deportation if the government happens to dislike their speech,” CAIR-CA stated. “This is not what the Constitution permits or envisions, and this practice must end with Sami Hamdi.”
