British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi has been reunited with his family following his release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention. Hamdi arrived in London on Thursday, three weeks after being detained by ICE agents during a speaking tour in the United States. The detention occurred despite Hamdi entering the U.S. on a valid visitor visa on October 19. His visa was abruptly revoked on October 24 without prior notice, according to Zahraa Billo, executive director of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA).
Hamdi was accused of overstaying his visa on October 26 while at San Francisco International Airport. He was subsequently transferred to the Golden State Annex in McFarland, California, where he was held in a cell with approximately 80 other detainees. Hamdi reported being denied medical care for severe abdominal pain until his condition gained media attention.
During a hearing on Monday, Hamdi and the U.S. government reached an agreement for his voluntary departure from the country. Upon his return to London, Hamdi stated, ‘What they want is to ensure that people like us don’t go to America. And we will defy them and we will exert our constitutional rights and speak truth against hatred.’
Hamdi’s detention is part of a broader pattern of ICE targeting individuals, particularly those involved in pro-Palestinian activism. Earlier this year, Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, and Georgetown University postdoctoral scholar Badar Khan Suri were all detained by ICE without criminal charges. Columbia University students Yunseo Chung and Ranjani Srinivasan were also targeted, with Srinivasan leaving the U.S. voluntarily after her student visa was revoked.
Hamdi’s case has sparked concerns about freedom of speech and the treatment of activists in the U.S. He alleged that the U.S. government is ‘trying to curb freedom of speech because there’s a concern among the extremist Israeli lobby that American public opinion is shifting.’ His detention highlights ongoing tensions surrounding activism and immigration enforcement in the United States.