Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox
Get our free Inside Washington email
Get our free Inside Washington email
Sami Hamdi, a British journalist and activist and outspoken critic of the Israeli war in Gaza, was arrested by U.S. immigration agents Sunday at San Francisco International Airport.
“Earlier this morning, ICE agents abducted British Muslim journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi at San Francisco Airport, apparently in response to his vocal criticism of the Israeli government during his ongoing speaking tour,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations civil rights group wrote on X.
Hamdi had spoken at a gala for the group on Saturday in California and was heading to Florida for another event prior to his arrest.
“We can confirm that Mr. Hamdi has not been deported and remains in custody,” CAIR added. “Our attorneys and partners are working to address this injustice.”
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed Hamdi’s arrest.
open image in gallery
British journalist Sami Hamdi was arrested by immigration agents in San Francisco on Sunday, with allies accusing the Trump administration of punishing him for his criticism of Israel (Sky News screengrab)
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote on X. “It’s commonsense.”
The official cited a report from the advocacy group RAIR about Hamdi in the post announcing the arrest.
RAIR, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has previously described as an anti-Muslim hate group, accused Hamdi of endorsing terrorism and operating alongside foreign terror networks through his various speaking engagements.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a self-described “proud Islamophobe” and influential outside advisor to the Trump administration, also took credit for the arrest.
open image in gallery
Hasan Piker, a popular leftist Twitch streamer and critic of Israel, was detained at a Chicago airport earlier this year (screengrab)
“I demanded that federal authorities inside the Trump administration treat Hamdi as the major National security threat that he is and I reported Sami Hamdi to federal immigration authorities over his documented support for Islamic terrorism,” she wrote on X.
Hamdi, who founded the outlet The International Interest and appears as a commentator on various mainstream news networks, has been a vocal critic of the Israeli war effort in Gaza, joining the scores of international observers who have deemed it a genocide.
He also celebrated the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel as an important moment in the cause for Palestinian self-determination, and wrote in May post on X he stood against “racism, Islamophobia, anti-semitism, genocide, and war crimes.”
In August, the Trump administration vowed to review the status of all 55 million foreign nationals in the U.S. with a valid travel visa to root out “security threats” and anyone “supporting terrorists,” designations the White House has often applied to activists criticizing Israel.
open image in gallery
The Trump administration has arrested scores of visa-holders, often students, for their views on the Israel-Hamas conflict (AP)
The Trump administration has arrested and attempted to deport a variety of non-citizen critics of Israel, accusing them of supporting terrorism for actions ranging from leading student protests to writing op-eds critical of the U.S. ally.
Last month, a federal judge found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem illegally chilled protected speech of pro-Palestinian students and faculty by threatening to revoke their visas and then arresting, detaining and deporting them — what the judge called a “full-throated assault on the First Amendment across the board under the cover of an unconstitutionally broad definition” of antisemitism.
