CAIR-CA, HMA Law Firm and MLFA Announce Journalist Sami Hamdi Home After Release from ICE Detention

Sami Hamdi is free and in the air, on his way back to his family, alhamdulillah. Here’s a message he shared before his departure:

“I am profoundly grateful to my family, my legal team and every individual in the global community who prayed, protested and refused to be silent. Let the record show: I broke no law and posed no threat. My only ‘offense’ was speaking the unvarnished truth about the genocide in Gaza.

“I am departing now, voluntarily, to reunite with my loved ones, not because the U.S. government ever established a credible case against me. This detention was a stark demonstration that a Muslim journalist can be held captive because extremists, amplified on social media, seek to weaponize state policy against inconvenient speech.

“This is not merely an injustice against me, but a searing indictment of any nation that claims to uphold free speech, a free press and the right to due process.”

In a statement, CAIR California CEO Hussam Ayloush said:

“Let’s be absolutely clear: if the government had any evidence to back up the smears it has been tweeting about Sami, he would not be on a flight home right now. They locked a journalist in an ICE cell and tried to frighten the public with baseless claims, and, in the end, all they proved was their own abuse of power. That should alarm anyone who cares about the rule of law.”

CAIR-CA and co-counsel said Hamdi’s decision to leave now allows him to reunite quickly with his family and continue his work without being unlawfully trapped in a drawn-out, punitive immigration process driven by politics—the same playbook increasingly used against critics of Israel.

“We are grateful to our community for mobilizing, demanding transparency, and refusing to accept the government’s narrative at face value,” Ayloush added. “This outcome shows the power of organized communities to push back against political retaliation, but it is also a warning shot: no journalist or community member should ever be targeted or detained for speaking out for Palestine.”