Family says UK journalist Sami Hamdi heading home after US detention

The family of British journalist Sami Hamdi on Thursday said that he had boarded a flight home to the UK after being detained by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities while on a tour in the US. 

Hamdi was detained at San Francisco International Airport during a speaking tour in the US.

Hamdi had spoken at a Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) gala in Sacramento, where he condemned Israel's genocide in Gaza. He was scheduled to speak at another Cair event in Florida. 

He arrived in the US on 19 October on a valid visitor visa, but his visa was revoked on 24 October without his knowledge, according to Zahraa Billo, executive director for the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair-SFBA).

He has not been charged with any criminal conduct or charged on the grounds of national security despite allegations by the Department of Homeland Security on X that he supports terrorism and actively undermines the “safety of Americans”.

Cair-California CEO Hussam Ayloush also said that Sam was being penalised for speaking out about Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians and should never have spent a single night in an ICE cell.