SOAS has released a statement expressing its “deep concern” regarding an alum’s detention in the US.
The university has called for US authorities to “ensure full transparency and due process” after Sami Hamdi was detained by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) last month.
In the statement released on Wednesday (5th November), SOAS urged US authorities to uphold the British journalist’s “fundamental right to freedom of expression and movement.”
Sami, an outspoken critic of Israel, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday 26th October while on a speaking tour of the US. He was travelling on a valid visa, which was subsequently revoked, Al Jazeera reports.
The arrest came after American far-right political activists Amy Mek and Laura Loomer wrote a series of posts on X accusing Sami of “training U.S. Muslims in digital agitation, electoral sabotage, and political warfare in alignment with Muslim Brotherhood doctrine.”
The US State Department confirmed the arrest in a post on X, certifying its intention to continue revoking the visas of “foreigners who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans.”
via YouTube: Al Jazeera
In its statement, SOAS criticised the legality surrounding Sami’s arrest: “Mr. Hamdi travelled to the US on a valid visa to participate in a speaking tour. His visa was subsequently revoked, and he is now reportedly being held in detention pending immigration proceedings and possible deportation.
“There is no indication that Mr. Hamdi has violated any laws.”
As part of his speaking tour discussing Israel’s war on Gaza, Sami had attended a gala held by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Sacramento, California, the evening before his arrest. The SOAS graduate was unaware his visa had been revoked two days earlier.
CAIR subsequently released a statement calling for Sami’s release: “Abducting a prominent British Muslim journalist and political commentator on a speaking tour in the United States because he dared to criticise the Israeli government’s genocide is a blatant affront to free speech.
“Our nation must stop abducting critics of the Israeli government at the behest of unhinged Israel First bigots. This is an Israel First policy, not an America First policy, and it must end.”
Speaking to Al Jazeera, Sami’s wife Soumaya shared that the US government has not yet provided any evidence as to why his visa was revoked. She said she believed the reason her husband was targeted by the US government and far-right activists was because “he’s become extremely effective at galvanising support for Palestinian rights.”
“Sami has been able to bring people together across the political spectrum, not just within Muslim communities,” Soumaya added.
via YouTube: Al Jazeera
In an interview posted to Al Jazeera’s YouTube channel, she shared further details of Sami’s arrest: “He’d already been in the country for several days. It was when he was preparing to take a domestic flight from San Francisco to Florida, he was approached by plainclothes ICE agents.
“They came and told him, your visa has been revoked. He responded and said, well, look, I’m at the airport, I’ll take the next flight out to London. And they said, no, you’ve got to come with us.”
The Trump administration has previously been criticised for revoking the visas of open critics of Israel.
In March, Columbia University student and US permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil was arrested for his participation in pro-Palestine student demonstrations, as part of Trump’s crackdown on “un-American activity.”
He was detained for three months in an immigration facility in Louisiana until a federal judge ruled that the President could no longer detain or deport him. The case against him is still ongoing.
The US Embassy has been contacted for comment.
Featured image via YouTube
