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Detained British Muslim commentator agrees to leave U.S.
Los Angeles Times
|November 12, 2025
British political commentator Sami Hamdi is going to voluntarily leave the U.S. after spending more than two weeks in immigration detention over what his supporters say was his criticism of Israel. The Trump administration has accused him of cheering on Hamas.
JACEK BOCZARSKI Anadolu SAMI HAMDI was arrested Oct. 26 by ICE during his speaking tour.
WASHINGTON - British political commentator Sami Hamdi is going to voluntarily leave the U.S. after spending more than two weeks in immigration detention over what his supporters say was his criticism of Israel. The Trump administration has accused him of cheering on Hamas.
Hamdi, who is Muslim, was on a speaking tour in the U.S. when he was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Oct. 26. He had just addressed the annual gala for the Sacramento chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the day before his arrest.
In a statement late Monday, the organization said Hamdi had "chosen to accept an offer to leave the United States voluntarily." "It is this simple: Sami never should have spent a single night in an ICE cell.
His only real 'offense' was speaking clearly about Israel's genocidal war crimes against Palestinians," said the chief executive of CAIR's California chapter, Hussam Ayloush, in a statement.
This story is from the November 12, 2025 edition of Los Angeles Times.
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