ICE abduction of Sami Hamdi: Trump's free speech is Israel First

U.S. Government Abducts British Journalist Critical of Human Rights Abuses. 

That's a headline most Americans never expected to see about their own nation, yet that's exactly what happened in California over the weekend.

ICE agents detained British journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi at San Francisco International Airport amid his latest national speaking tour. Having just spoken at the annual gala of the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV/CC), our Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, he was on his way to speak at CAIR-Florida’s gala.

Mr. Hamdi’s visa had been revoked on 24 October, the government explained, but only following an outcry over his unexplained abduction.

“The United States has no obligation to host foreigners” who “support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans,” the State Department stated.

Why would the State Department claim that a British journalist who has entered the United States for speaking engagements, interviews and meetings “undermines the safety of Americans?”

Examining Hamdi’s work and ICE's recent targeting of university students, the answer is clear: he criticised Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

A senior Trump administration official even told CBS that Hamdi’s detention was “related to comments he has made about the Middle East.”

Vocal against genocide

Sami Hamdi is a frequent guest on major news networks like the BBC, Al Jazeera, and Sky News, where he has repeatedly drawn attention to Israel’s massacres of Palestinians in Gaza over recent years. At speaking engagements across the US last year, Hamdi encouraged American Muslims and other Americans to oppose the Biden administration’s genocide. He continued such criticism when the genocide started again earlier this year.

The government's targeting of a journalist for exercising free speech is made even more disturbing by the fact that unhinged anti-Muslim and Israel First bigots claimed credit for his arrest. This wouldn’t be surprising, as the US government acting under pressure from a far-right social media campaign would not be unique.

Over the past year, we have witnessed the targeting of other critics of Israel’s genocide in Gaza based on dishonest and misleading information spread by hate groups like Canary Mission.

Palestinian green card holder Mahmoud Khalil is still fighting deportation for his activism. Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal resident, was arrested at a citizenship office due to his involvement in anti-genocide protests. And, F-1 visa holder Rumeysa Ozturk was seized by ICE agents in the street and deported over an opinion article she wrote that was critical of Israel.

Georgetown Professor Badar Khan Suri was also arrested in a night raid due to his wife’s involvement in anti-genocide activism.

If the government can treat legal residents and student visa holders this way, it is not surprising that they can detain a British journalist like Sami Hamdi and claim that only US citizens have the right to free speech.

Free speech under attack

The idea that free speech applies to everyone on American soil is one of the most important rights guaranteed by our Constitution and it is facing its most serious threat since the hysteria surrounding communism in the 20th century.

The irony is people like Hamdi are not even losing the right to criticise the American government. They are losing the right to criticise a foreign government.

Despite the government's latest justifications for targeting free speech, national security has nothing to do with it. In prior cases, the administration didn’t even bother to pretend that it did. Remember the White House’s “Shalom Mahmoud” tweet after the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil?

This must stop. We cannot allow our government to violate our Constitution and our laws on behalf of a foreign pariah state run by ultra-nationalist genocidaires. We cannot allow our nation to be seen in the eyes of the world as a repressive state that jails journalists.

The Trump administration should actually do as it says, and put America – including our constitutional guarantee of free speech for everyone on American soil – first.

Releasing Sami Hamdi and the other political prisoners who have been detained for their opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza should be the first step. It’s time for the administration to actually prioritise American freedom over the feelings of a foreign government.

Ismail Allison serves as National Communications Manager at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation.

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Opinions expressed in this article remain those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The New Arab, its editorial board or staff.