Pro-Palestinian British Speaker to Leave the US After Being Detained by ICE

Sami Hamdi, who had been on a tour sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, had his visa revoked over national security concerns.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security seal in Washington on Aug. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator and pro-Palestinian activist, will voluntarily leave the United States two weeks after being detained by federal immigration authorities for deportation, his family said on Monday.

Hamdi was in Sacramento as part of a speaking tour organized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested him at San Francisco International Airport on the morning of Oct. 26, a day after he spoke at CAIR Sacramento’s annual gala and hours before he was scheduled to address another CAIR event in Florida.

Hamdi’s father, Mohamed Elhachmi Hamdi, said a California immigration court has allowed his son to voluntarily return to the United Kingdom rather than face formal deportation.

“This decision brings joy to me, his mother, his wife, our entire family, and all of Sami’s supporters around the world,” Mohamed Elhachmi Hamdi wrote on X.

DHS Alleges Support of Terrorism

Hamdi’s detention followed the revocation of his visa due to concerns about national security, as described by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency initially pointed to reports from RAIR Foundation USA, a group that campaigns against Islamic extremism, which accused Hamdi of endorsing terrorism and of associating with foreign terrorist networks through his public appearances.

A day after ICE took Hamdi into custody, DHS shared a video clip in which Hamdi allegedly celebrated the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel, describing them as a “huge victory” in the Palestinian struggle against Israel dating back to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

In the clip, Hamdi asks his audience to hail the Hamas attackers who were eventually pushed back into Gaza by Israeli forces.

“Don’t pity them—they don’t want your pity. Celebrate the victory,” Hamdi says in the video, apparently referring to the Oct. 7 attackers. “How many of you felt it in your heart when you got the news that it happened? How many of you felt the euphoria?”

DHS said that people who cheered on the Oct. 7 attacks should not be allowed entry into the United States.

“The U.S. has no obligation to host foreigners, like Sami Hamdi, who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans. And we won’t,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS assistant secretary for public affairs, said in a post accompanying the clip.

CAIR Denounces Arrest

Meanwhile, CAIR and Hamdi’s attorneys welcomed the decision allowing him to leave voluntarily but condemned the initial arrest.

They noted that the immigration charging document accused Hamdi only of a visa overstay and did not identify “any criminal conduct or security grounds,” arguing that this was proof that Hamdi was never a danger to the community or to national security.

“It is this simple: Sami never should have spent a single night in an ICE cell. His only real ‘offense’ was speaking clearly about Israel’s genocidal war crimes against Palestinians,” Hussam Ayloush, the CEO of California’s CAIR chapter, said in a news release.

In a statement, DHS stood by its decision to arrest and deport Hamdi.

“Sami Hamdi, an illegal alien and terrorist sympathizer who cheered on Hamas following its October 7 terrorist attack, requested voluntary departure and ICE is happily arranging his removal from this country,” McLaughlin said on Monday.

“Under President [Donald] Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country.”

Hamdi’s case is the latest among a series of visa revocations affecting foreign nationals who have publicly expressed pro-Palestinian views.

In recent months, foreign students and speakers who were involved in campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza have faced deportation proceedings under a provision of U.S. immigration law, which allows the removal of individuals whose presence is deemed to pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” as determined by the secretary of state.

Some of those detainees include Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi of Columbia University, and Rumeysa Ozturk of Tufts University.