British journalist Sami Hamdi, who was detained by United States immigration officers for more than two weeks, will return to the United Kingdom Thursday, Hamdi and his authorized staff said in a statement.
The London-based journalist and commentator was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 26 at San Francisco International Airport, sooner or later after talking on the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) California’s annual gala.
Authorities instructed Hamdi he was being held after overstaying his US visa. However, Hamdi and his authorized staff claimed he was in the US on a legitimate visa and was detained for talking out about Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
Hamdi mentioned he was leaving the US “voluntarily,” in a press release Thursday.
“I am profoundly grateful to my family, my legal team and every individual in the global community who prayed, protested and refused to be silent. Let the record show: I broke no law and posed no threat. My only ‘offense’ was speaking the unvarnished truth about the genocide in Gaza,” Hamdi mentioned.
Hamdi is thought for his analyses on developments in the Middle East and appearances on British TV. He had not too long ago spoken concerning the US-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza and worldwide plans for the enclave’s post-war governance.
Hamdi mentioned he endured “harsh” circumstances in ICE detention, the place he mentioned he was held in a small room with dozens of males and compelled to attend more than eight hours for medical care, in keeping with the assertion. Hamdi additionally mentioned he was saved in shackles regardless of by no means being charged with a criminal offense, in keeping with the assertion.
NCS has reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for remark.
In a statement Monday, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin instructed NCS ICE was “happily arranging (Hamdi’s) removal from the country,” calling him “an illegal alien and terrorist sympathizer.”
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country,” the assertion mentioned.
Hamdi’s household mentioned in a press release Thursday that “no family should ever have to go through what we have.”
“For the last 18 days, (Hamdi) has been detained in a room with 80–90 other people, living in terrible conditions. All this because Sami, a journalist, political commentator, and human rights defender, spoke out against Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza,” the assertion mentioned.
Hamdi mentioned his “detention was a stark demonstration that a Muslim journalist can be held captive because extremists, amplified on social media, seek to weaponize state policy against inconvenient speech.”
Hamdi is without doubt one of the newest pro-Palestinian international nationals whose visas have been revoked by the Trump administration. Earlier this 12 months, Cornell graduate pupil Momodou Taal had his visa revoked and was focused for deportation. The twin UK-Gambian citizen has accused the Trump administration of concentrating on him for collaborating in pro-Palestinian protests amid the Israel-Hamas warfare. In late March, Taal introduced he would voluntarily go away the US.
Hussam Ayloush, CAIR California CEO, mentioned in a Thursday assertion Hamdi’s arrest ought to “alarm anyone who cares about the rule of law.”
“They locked a journalist in an ICE cell and tried to frighten the public with baseless claims, and, in the end, all they proved was their own abuse of power.”