The wife of a British journalist detained by immigration authorities in California says she has only been able to speak to him for 30 seconds since his detention, The Guardian reported.
Sami Hamdi was taken into custody by federal agents at San Francisco International Airport following his arrival in the United States on a speaking tour, according to The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
“We’re being kept in the dark,” Soumaya Hamdi said.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump’s plans to conduct widespread deportations have sparked criticism after reports emerged that individuals holding valid visas and green card applicants were being swept up in the raids.
The administration has detained and revoked the visas of several pro-Palestine activists.
What To Know
Hamdi is the editor-in-chief of The International Interest, a current affairs magazine covering the Middle East, East Asia, and the United Kingdom.
Soumaya Hamdi said the couple has three children, including a 10‑month‑old baby, and lamented how the children are distressed at not being able to speak to their father as they usually do.
“I can’t begin to even try to explain to you how distressing it is for them to try to understand that they can’t speak to their father, whom they talk to all the time and send funny videos and jokes and do video calls with,” she told The Guardian.
“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,” she added. “To hear through a third party that he has been abducted, effectively, by the United States government is incredibly distressing.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirmed that Hamdi’s visa had been revoked in a social media post shared on October 26.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” McLaughlin said.
In a speech delivered days after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, Hamdi said, “Don’t pity them…celebrate the victory,” and asked, “How many of you felt the euphoria?” He later clarified that he was not celebrating violence or death, but rather the revival of the Palestinian cause. His supporters have argued that clips of the remarks, including one shared by DHS from the group MEMRI, were edited to misrepresent his intent.
Hamdi’s wife told The Guardian that the footage was “edited in a way to frame Sami in a horrible light and produced by an organization 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.”
The California chapter of CAIR said it met with Hamdi at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Golden State Annex in McFarland, California, on Tuesday. His legal team has filed a habeas petition and requested an emergency temporary restraining order to prevent his transfer from counsel, CAIR said.
“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 said in a statement sent to Newsweek.
“This is not what the Constitution permits or envisions, and this practice must end with Sami Hamdi.”
It comes after Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist, was arrested in March and faces threats of deportation in an ongoing case. His situation became the most high-profile among a series of arrests targeting student activists who support Palestine.
What People Are Saying
CAIR said in a statement: “We again encourage the State Department and ICE to stop abducting journalists, students and others with valid visas based on their criticism of a foreign government’s genocide. Every single person on American soil, including immigrants and visitors, has the right to free speech and other fundamental freedoms.”
The State Department wrote on X: 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.
What Happens Next
Soumaya told The Guardian that her husband had a court date in November. DHS said that Hamdi will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
