Sami Hamdi, a British commentator who has spoken out against Israel’s war in Gaza, was detained for his political speech by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday at the San Francisco International Airport.
Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the move on social media, writing that Hamdi’s visa had been revoked.
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“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” McLaughlin wrote.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which is advocating for Hamdi, called his detention a “blatant affront to free speech.”
CAIR said in a statement that the British national had come to the United States “many times in the past” to deliver speeches. He spoke at a CAIR event in Sacramento, California, on Saturday and was scheduled to speak at a CAIR event in Florida on the night he was detained.
Hamdi is managing director of International Interest, a company that provides analysis on “geopolitical environments and risks,” its website says. He has appeared as a news commentator on British networks like Sky News.
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His silencing appears to have come amid a right-wing smear campaign led by notoriously Islamophobic activists including Laura Loomer and Amy Mekelburg.
McLaughlin quoted a tweet from Mekelburg, who has posted anti-Muslim content for years, in her announcement about Hamdi.
Mekelburg then celebrated the decision, writing, “WE DID IT AMERICA!”
“I’ve been fighting this relentlessly — and this morning, the system moved,” she wrote.
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Loomer also praised the decision to revoke Hamdi’s visa, wrongly asserting that “Sami Hamdi doesn’t have rights.” In another post about Hamdi, she crowed: “JIHADI SCALP.”
Loomer’s proximity to the White House has come under sharp scrutiny in President Donald Trump’s second term. While she does not have a position in the administration, she claims to have the ear of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and her social media posts appear to hold sway over Trump officials.
Earlier this year, visas for a a group of Palestinians from Gaza, including young children, were put on hold after she reportedly told Rubio the group added to the supposed threat of “Islamic invasion.”
Critics, including members of the federal judiciary, say that the Trump administration’s treatment of foreign nationals who speak out in support of the Palestinians in the United States is a clear effort to chill political speech the administration does not like.
