Soumaya Hamdi says she has barely spoken to Sami Hamdi since he was taken over his pro-Palestinian advocacy
The wife of a British political commentator who was detained by immigration authorities while on a speaking tour of the US said she has only been able to speak with him for “30 seconds” since he was taken into custody on Sunday over his pro-Palestinian advocacy.
Soumaya Hamdi told the Guardian she first learned her husband, Sami Hamdi, was detained at San Francisco international airport when a friend asked her to confirm rumors he had been “abducted by ICE”. When he was finally able to briefly call her, Hamdi only had enough time to say he had been taken to an immigration detention center in McFarland, California, where he remains.
“We’re being kept in the dark,” Soumaya said, adding that all she knows is that her husband was given a November court date as the US government seeks to deport him. The couple have three children, including a 10-month-old baby.
“I can’t begin to even try to explain to you how distressing it is for them to try to understand that they can’t speak to their father, whom they talk to all the time and send funny videos and jokes and do video calls with.
