British political commentator Sami Hamdi has said on his arrival back in the UK that he was considering suing US authorities for his detention in an immigration detention centre over criticism of Israel for the Gaza genocide.
Two days after revealing that he was leaving the US voluntarily, Hamdi lauded federal judges for exonerating him over what he termed a “botched” detention by “extremists” within the US government.
“I want to say that this wasn’t just an attack on me; it was an attack on the freedoms of ordinary Americans and citizens worldwide,” he told journalists and supporters outside a hotel near London’s Heathrow Airport following his return on Thursday.
Hamdi, who is Muslim, was on a speaking tour in the US when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on October 26. He remained detained for 18 days.
He had just addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento, California, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the day before his arrest.
‘Violence against oppression’
The US Department of Homeland Security said at the time of Hamdi’s arrest that the US State Department had revoked his visa and that ICE had put him in immigration proceedings.
Homeland Security later accused him of supporting the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
Hamdi said later that his intent wasn't to praise the attacks but to suggest that the violence was “a natural consequence of the oppression that is being put on the Palestinians.”
“I did nothing illegal in the US," he said.
“Everything was within the visa. Everything was within the limits of what the visa allowed me to do. The visa was revoked because of my advocacy for Palestine. It was revoked because of advocacy for Gaza.”
‘Cool heads in the US’
Hamdi’s detention was part of broader efforts by the Trump administration to identify and potentially expel thousands of foreigners in the United States who it says have either fomented or participated in unrest or publicly supported protests against Israel’s Gaza genocide.
Those enforcement actions have been criticised by civil rights groups as violations of constitutional protections for freedom of speech, which apply to anyone in the United States and not just to American citizens.
Hamdi, 35, said that he's discussing with his lawyers whether to sue American authorities, but added that he's hesitating about it because “cool heads” in the US State Department and the federal court system prevailed.
“In respect of those cooler minds, I would rather celebrate,” he said.
“I won this case; the extremists failed to silence my voice. They failed to remove my freedom of speech. America stood with me.”
Hamdi said there are no conditions attached to his voluntary departure and that he's not barred from seeking another US visa in the future.
