ICE has arrested British Muslim political commentator Sami Hamdi at the San Francisco airport

British political commentator Sami Hamdi, who was on a speech to the United States, was arrested at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday after his visa was revoked by immigration enforcement officers.

A Muslim civil rights group said his arrest was in retaliation for his criticism of Israel.

Interior Department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin announced on social media that Hamdi’s visa has been revoked and is being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement until he is removed from office. In her post, she also made baseless claims that Hamdi supports terrorism.

“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and harm America’s national security will not be allowed to work or travel to this country,” McLaughlin wrote in a social media post on Sunday.

Hamdi, who is based in London, was on a speaking tour of the United States, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim civil rights group. A leader of the organization said that his visit visa should last several months.

The group said in a statement that Hamdi was detained because he criticized the Israeli government for genocide during his trip and called his detention an affront to freedom of expression.

Hamdi attended the organization’s annual gala in Sacramento on Friday night and was scheduled to address an event in Florida on Sunday night.

Hamdi is a journalist and commentator who appears on British television networks to analyze developments in the Middle East as well as British domestic politics. According to his LinkedIn page, he is the editor and managing director of Global Interests, which “consults on the political environment around the world.”

Hamdi appears to be the latest of several immigrants and international travelers to have their US visas revoked for political speech. The Trump administration was slammed by a federal judge in September, who ruled that Secretary of State Marco Rubio illegally targeted a pro-Palestinian advocate to stop criticism of Israel and the two-year US-backed war it has waged in Gaza.

Hussam Eloush, executive director of CAIR’s California chapter, said he attended the Sacramento gala with Hamdi and was surprised to receive a text from him around 7 a.m. Sunday morning informing him that Hamdi had been stopped by federal agents and telling him he should come with them.

Ayloosh, accompanied by two attorneys, visited Hamdi Monday afternoon at the Golden State Annex of the ICE detention center in McFarland, where he is being held.

“When I went in to see him and see him, I felt ashamed that my country treated him like this,” Ayloosh said. “He has done no harm to our country, nor has he inspired it.”

Ayloush said Hamdi was only guilty of “criticizing Israel for what the US government has done with the Palestinians.”

CAIR said its legal team, as well as attorneys from the American Muslim Legal Fund, are working to secure Hamdi’s release.

The organization said Hamdi’s arrest came after pressure from right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who publicly took responsibility for his detention. She said on social media that ICE acted in response to her “relentless pressure.” The organization said that Lumar Hamdi had encouraged anti-Muslim conspiracy theories.

Loomer said she successfully lobbied the U.S. government to prevent Palestinian children injured by U.S. weapons in Israel’s war from receiving medical care in the U.S. The Trump administration announced in August that it had stopped granting visas to Palestinians from Gaza, including young children in need of critical medical care.

In response to a question from The Times about whether Hamdi’s detention came in response to criticism of the United States and Israel, the Department of Homeland Security referred to a statement the US State Department made in its X account, in which it republished McLaughlin’s announcement about Hamdi and added a comment: does not have We continue to revoke the visas of Americans who engage in such activities.