I spoke on Wednesday with Sami Hamdi, a prominent British Muslim journalist and commentator who was targeted and detained by Donald Trump’s immigration agents amid a smear campaign led by prominent Trump ally and Islamophobe Laura Loomer.
After spending weeks in detention with no clear legal justification, Hamdi was recently released back to the UK. He joined us in a live town hall to detail how exactly the Trump administration went after him, the conditions he faced in detention, and much more.
Hamdi was arrested at the San Francisco airport late last month, hours after he spoke at an event in Sacramento, California, and urged US politicians to take an “America First” posture, rather than an “Israel First” approach.
During his time in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention, Hamdi experienced severe pain on his left side but was told by one guard that he’d only receive medical help if he collapsed to the ground. “The guard says, ‘If you want it, the doctor’s been here for hours. If you want them to come, drop now on the floor,’” Hamdi recounted. “‘If you drop now, on the floor, the doctor will come running. Otherwise they won’t come.’”
Watch our full conversation to hear much more about the horrific conditions in ICE detention, the plight of his fellow detainees, and whether his detention changes how he feels about his pre-election calculus that Americans could “survive” four more years of Trump.
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Editor’s note: There were technical difficulties in the process of recording this interview. We apologize for any inconvenience.
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