A British political commentator held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) for more than two weeks has declared that “extremists will never win” following his release and return to the UK.
Sami Hamdi, who is Muslim and lives in London, was detained by Ice officers at San Francisco International Airport in California on October 26 after he travelled to the US for a speaking tour.
He landed in London on Thursday afternoon and told reporters outside Heathrow Airport that his visa was revoked “because of my advocacy for Palestine” but that two federal judges found there were “serious breaches” of freedom of speech and exonerated him.
Footage showed him being greeted by loved ones at arrivals with hugs, kisses and flowers.
Mr Hamdi told reporters: “I am pleased that the judges found that my freedom of speech rights were infringed upon, and I am pleased that my voice is back and that the extremists will never win.”
He insisted that he was “not the story”, and that the focus should be on Palestine, “one of the most heinous genocides of our time”.
“The truth is louder than hate, the truth is louder than the bigots, the truth is louder than the extremists,” he said.
“They failed to silence me, they will continue to fail to silence all those voices of truth and I’m glad that I am here in London where our freedoms are also protected, and they will be protected in America as well thanks to the cooler heads in the federal court system.”
Mr Hamdi explained that he had faced a single allegation of overstaying his visa, which had been revoked without his knowledge.
“I did nothing illegal in the US,” he continued.
“The visa was revoked because of my advocacy for Palestine.
“It was revoked because of an extremist group that decided to go to the State Department and leverage whatever influence it had to specifically target me and the Palestinian activism.”
Mr Hamdi said he is allowed to apply for a new visa and return to the US with nothing on his record.
He added: “I am entitled to visit the US which is why the extremists are very upset and furious because they thought that they would be able to accuse me of heinous crimes and they found that two federal judges stood in their way because the courts are still alive, the rule of law is still alive, my freedom of speech is sacred.”
The activist said UK courts also stand in the way of efforts to “silence and restrict the freedom of speech” of citizens.
He told reporters he is “considering” taking legal action but would rather “celebrate those who protected the freedom of speech”.
“America stood with me against the extremist Israeli lobby,” Mr Hamdi said.
“I and the American citizens and the British citizens stand together against hatred, stand together against extremism.”
He said he is hoping to play seven-a-side football on Sunday now that he is back in London.
Earlier, his family told of their “great relief” that Mr Hamdi was voluntarily flying home with no order of deportation and facing no allegations.
They said: “While we welcome this development, we want to underscore that no family should ever have to go through what we have: Sami was in the United States on a valid visa when he was abducted and detained by Ice, despite committing no crime.
“For the last 18 days, he 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.
“Sami should never have spent a single night in a cell.”
The statement said the family was “deeply worried” about the future of free speech in the US and called on the UK Government to “re-evaluate its approach and increase its efforts to secure the safe release of its citizens, including when they are detained by allies”.
The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair-CA), whose lawyers challenged Mr Hamdi’s detention in federal court, claimed he was detained over his support for Palestine and “punished for criticising Israel, not for any alleged wrongdoing”.
Mr Hamdi is the managing director of The International Interest, a global risk and intelligence company, and has appeared as an analyst and commentator on British TV networks.
US officials previously said comments made by Mr Hamdi, 35, after Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on southern Israel celebrated violence.
