Sami Hamdi, a British political commentator, was being held on Monday (October 27, 2025) by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was detained by ICE officers at San Francisco International Airport, according to federal officials.
One senior U.S. official said the detention was related to comments he has made about the Middle East.
Mr. Hamdi, who is Muslim, was on a speaking tour in the U.S. and on Saturday (October 25, 2025) had addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento, California, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR.
“Earlier 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,” the group said in a social media post on Sunday (October 25, 2025).
The detention is the latest in the Trump administration's ramped up efforts to identify and potentially expel thousands of foreigners in the United States who it says have either fomented or participated in unrest or publicly supported protests against Israel's military operations in Gaza. The administration has also denied visas to applicants whose social media histories have been critical of its policies.
