Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Sami Hamdi, a British journalist and activist and outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza, has been arrested US immigration agent Sunday at San Francisco International Airport.
“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,” Council on American-Islamic Relations The civil rights group wrote on X.
Hamdi spoke at an event for the group in California on Saturday and was heading there Florida for another incident prior to his arrest.
“We can confirm that Mr. Hamdi has not been deported and remains in custody,” CAIR said. “Our lawyers and partners are working to correct this injustice.”
Department of Homeland Security Hamdi’s arrest confirmed.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or travel in this country,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. wrote On X. “It’s common sense.”
The official cited a report by advocacy group RAIR about Hamdi in a post announcing the arrest.
RAIR, formerly owned by the Southern Poverty Law Center It has been described as an anti-Muslim hate group.Hamdi was accused of supporting terrorism and working with foreign terrorist networks through his various speaking engagements.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a self-described “Proud Islamophobe”And an influential outside adviser to the Trump administration also took credit for the arrest.
“I demanded that federal officials inside the Trump administration treat Hamdi as the greatest threat to national security and I reported Sami Hamdi’s documented support for Islamic terrorism to federal immigration authorities,” he 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, and has joined international observers who have deemed it genocide.
He celebrated the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel as a key moment for Palestinian self-determination, and wrote in a May post on X that he stood against “racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, genocide and war crimes”.
In August, the Trump administration swore off The White House has frequently called for a review of the status of all 55 million foreign nationals with valid travel visas in the U.S. to root out “security threats” and any “terrorist supporting” designations. Applied to activists criticizing Israel,
The Trump administration has arrested and attempted to deport various 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 Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem interrupted the protected speech of pro-Palestinian students and teachers by illegally threatening to revoke their visas, and then Arrest, detain and deport them – what the judge called “a full-scale assault on the First Amendment across the board under the guise of an unconstitutionally broad definition of anti-Semitism.”