FEDERAL JUDGE RECOGNIZES FREE PRESS ISSUES IN SAMI HAMDI CASE, PREVENTS ICE TRANSFER

Sat 01 November:

The California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), the state’s largest Muslim civil rights group, praised a federal court’s decision to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from moving British journalist Sami Hamdi out of California while his legal case is ongoing.

In the order, the Court stated that it believes Hamdi’s legal team has raised serious questions regarding whether his detention was retaliation for protected speech under the First Amendment. The judge also indicated that some form of court-ordered protection “may be appropriate” if ICE continues to hold him. The Court ordered the government to respond and has set a hearing date.

Importantly, the Court ordered ICE not to transfer Hamdi out of California without his consent or a further court order, preserving his access to counsel and maintaining the status quo.

Hamdi, a reporter and political commentator, was detained on Sunday at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) as he was preparing to fly to Florida for a speaking engagement.

He had been on a US speaking tour when authorities transferred him to a detention facility in southern California.

His detention is one of several recent cases in which critics of the United States or Israel have reportedly faced detention or deportation under the expanded powers of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since President Donald Trump began his second term in January.

On social media, far-right influencer Lara Loomer claimed credit for Hamdi’s detention, referring to him as a “jihadist”.

CAIR-CA attorneys met with Hamdi earlier this week at the Golden State Annex detention facility in McFarland, CA, and subsequently filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and an Emergency Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) seeking to block his transfer and secure his release.

“This is an important first step,” said CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush. “The Court has recognized that this case raises serious constitutional concerns and has acted to ensure Sami cannot be quietly moved away from his lawyers. The fight continues for his freedom and for the protection of free speech for everyone.”

CAIR-CA is representing Hamdi alongside immigration attorney Hassan Ahmad and the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA).

CAIR-CA is a chapter of CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

Hamdi had been a vocal voice against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, making comments that were interpreted as supportive of Hamas – though he later clarified that his comments were meant to express solidarity with Palestinian civilians.

Protesters rally in San Francisco over detention of British journalist Sami Hamdi

Dozens of demonstrators gathered Friday afternoon in downtown San Francisco to protest the continued detention of Sami. Community leaders and activists took turns speaking in support of Hamdi, highlighting his right to free expression and his history of international speaking tours, including in the United States.

Sarah El-Sharif, an independent scholar said, “He spoke up against a foreign government’s genocide, to remind Americans that food was being taken from the mouths of their children to fund bullets and guns that maim and kill children in Palestine,” she said.

“The truth is the erosion of rights to privacy, free speech, and due process domestically has always been intimately tied to devastating foreign policy,” El-Sharif continued, noting that surveillance of Muslims in the United States “goes back decades”.

“They want to scare us all by making an example out of Sami, but what tyrants and oppressors will never understand is – the more you try to suffocate a message, the louder it gets,” she said.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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