Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator who was on a speaking tour in the U.S., was detained by immigration enforcement officers on Sunday at San Francisco International Airport after his visa was revoked.
A Muslim civil rights group said his arrest was retaliation for his criticism of Israel.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, announced on social media that Hamdi’s visa had been revoked, that he was being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement until he could be removed. In her post, she also made unsubstantiated claims that Hamdi supported terrorism.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” McLaughlin wrote in her Sunday social media post.
Hamdi, who is based in London, had been on a speaking tour in the United States, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights advocacy group. His visitor visa was supposed to last for several months, a leader at the organization said.
The group said in a statement that Hamdi had been detained “because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide” while on his tour, and called his detention “a blatant affront to free speech.”
Hamdi had attended the organization’s annual gala on Friday night in Sacramento and was scheduled to speak at an event in Florida on Sunday night.
Hamdi is a journalist and commentator who appears on British television networks to analyze developments in the Middle East, as well as domestic U.K. politics. According to his LinkedIn page, he is the managing director and editor in chief of International Interest, which “advises on political environments across the globe.”
Hamdi appears to be the latest of several immigrants and international travelers to have a U.S. visa revoked over political speech. The Trump administration was rebuked in September by a federal judge, who ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had unconstitutionally targeted noncitizens for their pro-Palestinian advocacy in order to suppress critiques of Israel and the war it has waged in Gaza for two years with backing from the U.S.
Hussam Ayloush, chief executive of CAIR’s California chapter, said he attended the Sacramento gala with Hamdi and was shocked to receive a text from him Sunday around 7 a.m. informing him that Hamdi had been stopped by federal agents who told him he had to come with them.
Ayloush visited Hamdi along with two attorneys on Monday afternoon at the Golden State Annex, an ICE detention center in McFarland, where he is being held.
“When I went inside to meet him and check on him, I felt embarrassed that my country treated him that way,” Ayloush said. “He hasn’t caused or instigated any harm to our country.”
Ayloush said Hamdi was only guilty of “being critical of what Israel is doing to Palestinians, and the complicit role the U.S. government has played.”
CAIR said that its legal team as well as attorneys from the Muslim Legal Fund of America were working toward Hamdi’s release.
The organization said Hamdi’s arrest came after pressure from right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who publicly took credit for his detention. She said on social media that ICE acted in response to her “relentless pressure.” Loomer had smeared Hamdi with anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, the organization said.
Loomer has said she successfully lobbied the U.S. government to bar Palestinian children injured by American weapons in Israel’s war from seeking medical care in the U.S. In August, the Trump administration announced it had stopped approving visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, including young children in need of serious medical care.
In response to a question from The Times about whether Hamdi’s detention came in response to his critiques of the U.S. and Israel, the Department of Homeland Security linked to a statement the U.S. State Department made on its X account, in which it reposted McLaughlin’s announcement about Hamdi and added a comment: “We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans. We continue to revoke the visas of persons engaged in such activity.”
