Hostage to Silence We Are Being Kept in the Dark

November 01, 2025 – UK/USA – 

The wife of British journalist and commentator Sami Hamdi has spoken out after her husband was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco International Airport during a U.S. speaking tour. His visa was revoked, and he was held without a clear explanation, drawing sharp concerns about press freedom and due process.

Soumaya Hamdi said she had only one thirty-second phone call with her husband, during which he told her he was being held at an ICE detention center in McFarland, California, and had a court date scheduled in November. She added that the family—including three young children—had been left entirely in the dark about his fate. “We’re being kept in the dark,” she said.

Hamdi traveled to the United States on a valid UK visa for a speaking engagement, but she says he was intercepted and taken into custody under a visa-revocation decision. U.S. authorities say his visa was canceled because the U.S. “has no obligation to host foreigners who support terrorism,” pointing to a video in which Hamdi allegedly praised the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas. Hamdi contests the claim and says the footage had been misleadingly edited.

Advocacy groups argue that this case reflects a deeper threat to freedom of expression: a prominent journalist detained without public explanation, while the state remains opaque. The wife said the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office had offered minimal support and that U.S. authorities had blocked her access to clear information.

The detention of a British journalist known for his Middle East commentary raises troubling questions about the rights of independent media figures in the U.S. and the extent of executive discretion over visas and expression. With little transparency and his family left uninformed, the case underscores how press freedom and travel rights can collide in increasingly opaque legal environments.

Reference – 

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/31/nx-s1-5589126/wife-of-british-journalist-detained-by-ice-says-shes-been-left-in-the-dark

https://www.nepm.org/national-world-news/2025-10-31/wife-of-british-journalist-detained-by-ice-says-shes-been-left-in-the-dark

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/30/sami-hamdi-ice-detention-interview-wife