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Immigration officials sparked outrage after they detained a British and Muslim commentator who frequently speaks out for Palestinian rights amid his speaking tour in the U.S. on Sunday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reports that Sami Hamdi was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday morning.
The State Department confirmed that Hamdi was in custody, and that officials have revoked his visa and are working to deport him.
“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,” the department said in a post on X.
Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia Laughlin said that his detention was the result of work by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
CAIR said the Trump administration effectively “abducted” Hamdi, targeting him for his advocacy for Palestinian rights. The detention happened just after Hamdi spoke at CAIR’s annual gala on Saturday, and before another CAIR event on Sunday. The group has vowed to fight his detention.
“Abducting a prominent British Muslim journalist and political commentator on a speaking tour in the United States because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide is a blatant affront to free speech,” CAIR said in a statement. “We call on ICE to immediately account for and release Mr. Hamdi, whose only ‘crime’ is criticizing a foreign government that committed genocide.
“Our nation must stop abducting critics of the Israeli government at the behest of unhinged Israel First bigots. This is an Israel First policy, not an America First policy, and it must end,” the group went on.
The arrest happened after right-wing activists had called for Hamdi to be arrested. Far right activist Laura Loomer took credit for the arrest, saying that it was the “direct result” of her actions.
However, the Trump administration has covertly undertaken a widespread campaign of using the nation’s law enforcement agencies to target and punish those the administration views as “anti-Christianity,” who supposedly support “the overthrow of the United States Government,” or otherwise hold left-wing views. The campaign is under President Donald Trump’s National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, or NSPM-7, and states that officials must intervene even before any crimes are committed.
The Trump administration has detained and deported numerous journalists, scholars, and members of the media in seeming attempts to quash dissent. This month, the Trump administration deported journalist Mario Guevara, who had been held in ICE detention for months after being arrested while he was reporting on an Atlanta “No Kings” protest this summer.
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