Sami Hamdi, a British journalist and commentator known for his criticism of Israel and who has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since October 26, will be released after reaching an agreement with the government that includes his “voluntary” departure from the North American country.
“Mr. Hamdi has decided to accept his offer to voluntarily leave the United States,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), American Muslim Legal Fund, and immigration law firm HMA announced in a joint statement.
In the same memo distributed on social networks, the three organizations expressed “satisfaction” with the agreement with Washington, which included the “release” of journalists detained by Washington for “illegal overstay after visa revocation,” and denounced the extreme move as lacking “just cause and prior notice.”
Furthermore, they noted, prosecutors “have not specified any criminal activity or security reasons” for detaining Hamdi, stressing that in this sense, “this agreement establishes that the government does not consider Hamdi a danger to the community or national security.”
“It’s simple: Sami should never have spent a night in an ICE cell. His only real crime was speaking out about Israel’s genocidal war crimes against the Palestinian people,” CAIR Director Hussam Ailsh defended, highlighting “how quickly our government officials are willing to sacrifice the First Amendment and freedom of the press when journalists dare to use their positions to prioritize America over Israel.”
He also warned that while Hamdi’s release is “welcomed, it does not send a message to all the activists and journalists we monitor, and to all the authoritarian dictatorships in the world that can now claim to follow the example of the United States.”
Hamdi had been facing orders to leave the United States after being arrested by ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport in late October as part of the Department of Homeland Security’s policy against foreign nationals who “support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans.”
The arrest came after Laura Loomer, a far-right activist close to President Donald Trump, posted a series of messages on X accusing Hamdi of supporting terrorist groups. In the case of CAIR, Loomer promotes “anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.”
Already in March, U.S. authorities revoked the visa of Mahmoud Jalil, a pro-Palestinian activist who became known for his university protests against Israeli military attacks in the Gaza Strip.
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