Sami Hamdi, a British journalist and activist and outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, was arrested by US immigration agents at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday.
“Earlier this morning, ICE agents kidnapped 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 civil rights group Council on American-Islamic Relations wrote on X.
Hamdi had spoken at a gala for the group in California on Saturday 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.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine America’s national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. wrote on X. “It’s common sense.”
The official cited a report by advocacy group RAIR on Hamdi in the post announcing the arrest.
RAIR, which the Southern Poverty Law Center previously had described as an anti-Islamic hate groupaccused Hamdi of endorsing terrorism and collaborating with foreign terror networks through his various speaking engagements.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a self-described “proud Islamophobe” and influential outside adviser to the Trump administration, also took credit for the arrest.
“I demanded that federal authorities within the Trump administration treat Hamdi as the greatest national security threat that he is, and I reported Sami Hamdi to federal immigration authorities for his documented support of Islamic terrorism,” she wrote on X.
Hamdi, who founded the outlet The International Interest and appears as a commentator on several mainstream news networks, has spoken out as a critic of Israel’s war effort in Gaza, joining the dozens of international observers who deemed it a genocide.
He also celebrated the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel as a key moment in the cause for Palestinian self-determination, writing in the May post on X that he opposed “racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, genocide and war crimes.”
In August, the Trump administration pledged to review the status of all 55 million foreigners in the US with valid travel visas to root out “security threats” and anyone who “supports terrorists,” designations the White House has often applied to activists who criticize Israel.
The Trump administration has arrested and attempted to deport a number of non-citizen critics of Israel, accusing them of supporting terrorism for actions ranging from leading student protests to writing critical op-eds about the US ally.
Last month, a federal judge ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem illegally chilled the protected speech of pro-Palestinian students and teachers by threatening to revoke their visas and then arrest, detain and deport them — what the judge called an “outright attack on the First Amendment across the board, under the cover of a unconstitutionally broad definition’ of anti-Semitism.
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