British journalist and pro-Palestine commentator Sami Hamdi is set to return home more than two weeks after he was imprisoned by US immigration authorities, his wife and legal representatives said on Monday.

Hamdi, 35, was stopped at San Francisco international airport in California on October 26, and detained by agents from the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency mid-way through a speaking tour discussing Israel’s war on Gaza.

Hassan M Ahmad, a lawyer from the California chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CA), and the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) said in a statement on Monday that the journalist and commentator was punished for his criticism of Israel during his US speaking tour and not for any alleged wrongdoing.

“It is this simple: Sami never should have spent a single night in an ICE cell,” Hussam Ayloush, the CEO of CAIR’s California chapter, said in a statement.

“His only real ‘offense’ was speaking clearly about Israel’s genocidal war crimes against Palestinians.”

“The immigration charging document filed in his case alleged only a visa overstay—after the government revoked his visa without cause and without prior notice—and never identified any criminal conduct or security grounds,” Hamdi’s legal representatives said in the joint statement.

Hamdi’s wife, Soumaya Hamdi, welcomed the news in a series of posts on social media, saying, “Sami is coming home, alhamdullilah. Elated doesn’t begin to describe the feeling.”