The family of Sami Hamdi, a British Muslim journalist detained without charge by US immigration authorities, have appealed to the UK government to secure his release after he suffered a medical emergency in detention.
Hamdi, arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in California last month, began suffering excruciating pain on his left side and had to be seen by a medical professional while in detention, his family said on Monday.
There was a long delay before he was seen however.
“We demand the UK government intervene immediately to ensure Sami is immediately returned home to us before his health suffers any further,” they said in a statement.
The British-Tunisian commentator was detained on 26 October while on a speaking tour of the US. ICE revoked his visa ahead of his visit to the country but he did not learn of this until after he arrived.
Hamdi’s wife Soumaya told The New Arab that his condition was triggered by the poor conditions inside the ICE detention facility and that he was denied medical care for hours.
People detained by ICE are often held in poor conditions with little oversight. Holding facilities are increasingly overcrowded as the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants rounds up tens of thousands of people and overwhelms the courts.
“He could barely speak on the phone,” Soumaya said, recounting a phone call with her husband pleading for help after getting sharp pains in his stomach. “He was obviously in a lot of pain.”
He told her that he’d initially been refused medical attention despite asking to see a doctor for hours.
A doctor eventually saw him after family members, the British consulate and his legal team inundated the facility with calls.
Hamdi’s arrest came during a speaking tour around the US, days after he had entered the country on a valid visa.
He had attended an annual event organised by the Muslim advocacy group the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Sacramento the day before his arrest and was due to speak at the organisation’s Florida gala on Sunday.
He was detained before boarding a flight at San Francisco airport.
His arrest was first announced by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist close to the Trump administration, who accused him in a series of social media posts of being a “pro-Hamas jihadist”.
The Department for Homeland Security – which oversees ICE – accused Hamdi of “supporting terrorism and actively undermining the safety of Americans”, though no criminal charges have been filed against him.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose lawyers are representing Hamdi, says he was arrested because of his criticism of the Israeli government and called it a “blatant affront to free speech”.
US authorities have refused to provide an explanation to the British government for his arrest, according to Soumaya.
“The British government doesn’t know the reason for the detention of their own citizen, and when they’ve requested that information they’ve been blocked from receiving it,” she said. “This is from their closest ally.”
Hamdi’s arrest has been met with outrage from rights groups in the UK and US.
Last Monday, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) demanded the UK take “urgent diplomatic action” to secure his release.
A federal court over the weekend blocked an attempt by ICE to transfer him out of California and has set a hearing date for 12 November to determine whether Hamdi’s constitutional rights to free speech have been violated.
His case will be heard before an immigration judge on 10 November after which his family hope he will be allowed to travel back to the UK.
“I hope that the 10th will be the end of it but we’ve seen that a lot of these cases go on and on,” Soumaya said, referring to pro-Palestine activist Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained for more than three months before being released.
“Sami’s more than happy to come home. There’s really no reason why they should be detaining him when he’s willing to come home,” she said.
