‘Bring him home’: Sami Hamdi’s wife urges US to release UK journalist

Soumaya Hamdi was readying for the household vacation she would soon beryllium taking with her hubby erstwhile she received a substance connection that changed everything. “Is it existent that Sami is being abducted?” a person asked.

She had called her husband, British-Tunisian commentator and writer Sami Hamdi, earlier that time to cheque successful connected him, arsenic helium travelled astir the United States connected a speaking circuit discussing Israel’s warfare connected Gaza. When helium didn’t answer, Soumaya had assumed helium was astatine a speaking engagement.

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Instead, helium had been detained by US migration authorities, quality that came arsenic “a implicit shock”, she told Al Jazeera.

“That’s not the substance connection that I deliberation anyone ever wants to read,” she said

It was Sunday, October 26. Sami had been stopped astatine San Francisco International Airport. Unbeknownst to him, his visa had been revoked by US authorities 2 days earlier aft a unit run by anti-Muslim and pro-Israel societal media influencers.

The detention of the 35-year-old professional of Israel’s genocide connected Gaza has sparked a ineligible battle, with his lawyers filing exigency petitions against his detention and his wife, British parliamentarians and UK civilian nine groups demanding their authorities instrumentality action.

His lawsuit is the latest successful what Muslim advocacy groups picture arsenic a run to soundlessness pro-Palestinian voices successful the US done migration enforcement.

‘Bundled into a achromatic van’

Hamdi’s speaking circuit was conscionable his latest crossed the US – his commentary emphasising continued enactment for the Palestinian radical has grown successful popularity among American Muslims and pro-Palestinians since the warfare connected Gaza began successful October 2023.

On Saturday evening, helium addressed the yearly gala of the Council connected American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civilian close advocacy group, successful Sacramento and was owed to talk astatine different CAIR lawsuit successful Florida the adjacent day.

But arsenic helium moved done San Francisco airport’s home terminal connected Sunday morning, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers approached him.

“They took him to a large achromatic van,” Soumaya said, recounting what her hubby aboriginal told her erstwhile she aboriginal reached him. “He asked them, and this indispensable person been the 2nd oregon 3rd time, helium said, ‘I request to beryllium capable to archer idiosyncratic that I’ve been taken by ICE.’ So they said, ‘OK, you got 1 substance message.’”

Hamdi managed to nonstop a little connection to CAIR earlier officers confiscated his phone. When Soumaya aboriginal called, an ICE serviceman answered and hung up connected her.

“The serviceman himself hung maine up, past switched the telephone off,” she said.

It was astir midnight erstwhile Hamdi was yet capable to telephone his woman for 30 seconds from the Golden State Annex detention centre successful California, immoderate 5 to six hours from the airport.

“He sounded truly nether pressure,” Soumaya recalled.

Days later, authorities transferred him successful the mediate of the nighttime to different installation for processing earlier returning him and interrogating him without his lawyers present, she said.

She has spoken to him doubly since his detention.

The mates person 3 children, including a 10-month-old baby. “The kids don’t recognize wherefore they can’t scope him,” Soumaya said. “Sami is simply a household man.”

Legal challenge

On Tuesday, CAIR’s California section filed a national habeas corpus petition, requiring the authorities to warrant Hamdi’s detention, on with an exigency impermanent restraining bid to halt authorities from moving him.

The filings purpose to halt officials from moving Hamdi to a distant facility, a measurement CAIR says could isolate him from his lawyers and friends.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Hamdi “cheered on” the October 7 Hamas-led attacks, portion the spokesperson for the DHS, Tricia McLaughlin, said, “Those who enactment coercion and undermine American nationalist information volition not beryllium allowed to enactment oregon sojourn this country.”

It shared an edited clip by MEMRI, a pro-Israel radical which says it is an extremism monitor, to warrant his detention, successful which Hamdi said: “Don’t pity them [the Palestinians], they don’t privation your pity, observe their victory.”

A week later, and connected respective consequent occasions, Hamdi clarified his remarks. “What Muslims are celebrating is not war; they’re celebrating the revival of a origin – a conscionable cause,” Hamdi told The Thinking Muslim podcast a week aft October 7. His household person pointed to Hamdi’s ain words – “Racism, Islamophobia, anti-semitism, genocide, and warfare crimes request nary mentation oregon definitions for humanity to recognise them and basal firmly against them”.

Soumaya, dismissed the allegations against her hubby arsenic “outrageous” and a “smear run targeting his advocacy for Palestinian rights”.

“The crushed wherefore these allegations person been made astir Sami is due to the fact that he’s go excessively effectual of a speaker,” said Soumaya. “He’s connected grounds arsenic saying that billions shouldn’t beryllium sent by the American authorities to prevention Israel erstwhile American citizens request lodging and healthcare … So it’s not similar he’s been criticising the United States, he’s been criticising a overseas government, and he’s being targeted for that.”

In an unfastened missive to Vice President JD Vance, Sami’s father, Mohamed El-Hachmi Hamdi, said disapproval of Israel was “not a transgression but a motivation duty”, adding that his lad should “be encouraged, not sanctioned and barred from entering America”.

Zahra Billoo, enforcement manager of CAIR’s San Francisco Bay Area office, which assembled Hamdi’s ineligible defence, told Al Jazeera the situation aims to support Hamdi’s law rights.

“Despite what Laura Loomer, Amy Mekelberg and assorted authorities accounts person been tweeting, nary charges person been levied against Sami,” she said, referring to far-right activists who claimed recognition for his detention.

Billoo likened Hamdi’s lawsuit to different overseas pro-Palestine advocates detained by ICE, including Mahmoud Khalil, Rumeysa Ozturk, and Badar Khan Suri.

The Trump medication has invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a wartime instrumentality being broadly interpreted to let the authorities to people overseas nationals whose code it deems harmful to US overseas policy.

Immigration lawyer Hassan Ahmad, who represents Sami and has taken different akin cases similar Suri’s, told Al Jazeera this reflects “a wide crackdown connected Palestinian advocacy done migration law”.

He said Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism are “distinct but often overlap, and we’ve seen that much since October. This is portion of the larger occupation of de jure Islamophobia successful the US justness system.”

“This is weaponising migration to instrumentality structural anti-Palestinian racism,” Billoo said.

Billoo added that CAIR was acrophobic astir an summation successful Islamophobia pursuing the onset of the Israeli genocide successful Gaza, which has “increased to levels we hadn’t seen before”.

According to CAIR’s latest civilian rights report, the organisation received a grounds 8,658 complaints successful 2024, the highest since it began compiling information successful 1996.

The study attributed the surge to what it called “the US-backed Gaza genocide”, which “drove a question of Islamophobia successful the United States”, with complaints spanning employment discrimination, education, instrumentality enforcement encounters and hatred crimes.

The US quality rights radical Common Dreams’ caller report, Solidarity arsenic a Crime, released this month, paints a stark representation of what it calls a “nationwide run to soundlessness solidarity” with Palestinians crossed the United States, citing censorship, arrests, field crackdowns and deportations targeting pro-Palestinian advocacy.

‘Wholly inadequate’ UK response

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Al Jazeera it is “providing consular assistance” and is “in interaction with section authorities and his family”.

But Soumaya described the effect arsenic “wholly inadequate”. She said US authorities are “blocking” FCDO officials from receiving accusation astir wherefore Hamdi’s visa was revoked.

“We’re talking astir a British national with a valid US visa who has already been allowed to participate the United States,” she said. “The FCDO should recognise that this is truly alarming.”

Five UK members of parliament, including erstwhile Labour person Jeremy Corbyn, issued a connection past week calling connected the authorities to unafraid consular entree and request Hamdi’s harmless return.

The National Union of Journalists and International Federation of Journalists besides called for his contiguous release. Seamus Dooley, NUJ adjunct wide secretary, said determination “is nary grounds that, arsenic a journalist, helium is blameworthy of a violent offence, and helium should beryllium released”.

The Muslim Council of Britain urged the authorities to instrumentality “urgent diplomatic action”, saying, “Press state cannot beryllium selective and we impulse the British Government to travel to the defence of its citizens being detained successful this manner.”

Billoo emphasised the stakes widen beyond 1 individual. “If the United States authorities could dainty an internationally renowned governmental analyst, writer and British national successful this way, we’re each forced to wonder: Are we safe? What tin we say?”

The detention has devastated the family, his woman said. “Sami misses the kids erstwhile he’s travelling. He misses each of his family,” Soumaya said. “His mum and dada are highly anxious and disquieted for his wellbeing, too.”

“You know, if you privation him retired of the country, conscionable nonstop him home,” she said, adding, “He has a household that miss him dearly and would beryllium precise blessed for him to travel location to. So what’s the crushed for depriving him of his liberty and his state and keeping him locked up.”