It’s Not Just Hasan Piker.
About the recent detainment of Hasan Piker being the latest in a long line of disturbing ICE detentions reported in the U.S.
On May 12, 2025, Taylor Lorenz reported that Hasanabi, aka Hasan Piker, was flying home from a family vacation to France when he was detained by Customs and Border Protection. During his detention, he was asked a number of questions that, frankly, should not be asked of the west’s biggest political streamer. Questions like “Do you like Donald Trump?” “Have you ever interviewed Hamas, Houthis, or Hezbollah members?” “What are your opinions on Israel?”
To virtually every question, Hasan claims he responded, “I'm on the side of civilians. I want the endless bloodshed to end. I am a pacifist. I want wars to end… which is insane because up until this moment. If you were to say as an American citizen, you stand 10 toes down with Hamas, or you stand 10 toes down with the Houthis, they can’t deny you entry into the country for that shit.”
Under the protections of the constitution, this is not supposed to happen. As Taylor Lorenz writes, “In a functioning democracy, public figures and journalists are supposed to be able to criticize the government without fear of retaliation. That criticism is vital in holding power to account. When authorities start treating political beliefs like security threats, it sends a loud, chilling message to anyone expressing themselves online, especially those with a platform, that they might be targeted.”
And she’s right. Although we don’t know for sure what the exact motivations were for Hasan’s detention, we can infer based on the fact that he was also questioned for his bans on Twitch, where he primarily streams, that this may have been a political act. Hasan Piker is unapologetically vocal about every stance he takes politically, and with nearly 3 million followers on Twitch, that voice of his reaches a lot of ears. Detaining him for speaking his mind isn’t outside the realm of reason, either - especially since it’s legal.
According to DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, "Upon entering the country, this individual was referred for further inspection — a routine, lawful process that occurs daily, and can apply to any traveler.”
A further investigation by Ken Klippenstein found that, “federal authorities have broad power to question and search U.S. citizens at the border without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion. Though the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure, the Supreme Court has recognized a so-called border search exception. This authority applies to anyone located within 100 miles of a land border or coastline — the "border zone" — which incidentally covers over two-thirds of the U.S. population. CBP has frequently used these powers since 9/11 to target Muslims, but up until Trump, they rarely targeted American citizens so overtly for voicing their opinions. As Hasan told me, he had never been targeted before.”
Because of the legal gray area this administration has placed hundreds of thousands of Americans in, Hasan’s is merely one of the highest profile examples of this happening - and it’s going to keep on happening until Trump is stopped.
Look at this smaller story from just yesterday - one day after Hasan’s detention. The “psych sludge” band Lord Buffalo from Austin, TX, had just hopped on a plane at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to embark on a nine day tour of Europe with the band Orsak:Oslo. A dream come true for any aspiring band that quickly became a complete and utter nightmare.
As they wrote across social media, they had to cancel their tour before even leaving the country - because Customs and Border Protection had detained their drummer Yamal Said, pulling him forcibly off of his flight. As the band themselves put it:
“We are heartbroken to announce we have to cancel our upcoming European tour. Our drummer, who is a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States (green card holder) was forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday May 12.
He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him. We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release. We are devastated to cancel this tour, but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom.”
The post was updated hours later with a statement that Yamal had received legal representation, but as of me writing this, he remains detained for reasons unclear. Said’s situation is especially frustrating because he has been a lawful permanent resident in Austin since the 1980s and, according to the Austin Chronicle, a respected member of his community, that works as a Coverage Coordinator for the Middle School and High School teams at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. That’s not to say that being a respected member of the community is a requirement for sympathy, but what I’m saying is the Trump administration could not have picked a worse target to paint themselves as inhumane.
The crackdown from the Trump administration even applies in places you may not expect; on May 10, Sarah Slater for the Irish Times reported on an Irish woman named Cliona Ward, who was detained by ICE for nearly three weeks… after she flew overseas to visit her dad. Ward is 54 with two prior felony drug charges and four misdemeanors, but she was also here with a green card active until 2033 - and she claims her convictions had been expunged.
“[This prompted] customs to temporarily release her to obtain the appropriate documentation to prove that her records had been cleared in California,” Slater writes. “When she went to plead her case at San Francisco airport to customs on April 21st and present proof of her expungement, she was detained again and told to argue her case in front of an immigration judge. The expungement had been carried out at a state not federal level.”
Although Ward is now free, she claims the experience has left her with a form of PTSD due to the lights never being turned out, meaning “when she closes her eyes all she sees is fluorescent lights.” Ward’s story matches that of countless others who have been detained simply for the “crime” of not being a U.S. citizen. Sometimes, it’s not even as simple as that, though. Like the story of Eyesofsav on TikTok.
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EyesofSav, AKA Savanna Pinder, posted a video back on May 5 detailing her own detention in Miami - and much like Hasan Piker, she too is a U.S. citizen. She had just come off a month-long trip to Spain, and was passing through the Global Entry line when an officer pulled her aside and asked her about her trip, and what she did for work. When she said she was a TikToker, she was held and passed around by multiple officers for two hours.
Like Hasan, she was asked about her content, which does include anti-Trump content, but she was also asked about her Panamanian immigrant father’s citizenship status, questioned multiple times about her travel history, and made to go through each of her social media accounts with the officers one by one. Since then, the DHS has actually tweeted about Savanna’s story, confirming that the detention did indeed happen - but denied that it was politically motivated. Just like Hasan.
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There are so many stories of this happening. A Pro-Palestinian protester’s lawyer getting stopped and searched at the border. The 70-year-old permanent resident detained after a trip to Zimbabwe. The New England couple held for hours and treated so inhumanely the husband’s blood pressure hit 153 over 112, requiring the attention of paramedics. That husband is a TRUMP VOTER, according to Newsweek, meaning the motivations are not always political.
And here’s a list from NYMag of the countless children that we know about who have been detained by ICE following Trump’s inauguration. Absolutely sickening.
This has sadly made travelers into and out of the U.S. very paranoid, either taking extreme precautions including leaving a cel phone at home and taking a burner overseas, to opting out of international travel altogether. What makes it even worse is that we have NO IDEA HOW MANY AMERICANS ARE LOCKED UP. According to María Luisa Paúl at The Washington Post,
“[T]he federal government does not release data on how often U.S. citizens are wrongfully detained or even removed from the country. Since the creation of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2003, investigations have found the agency has detained, removed or issued detainers for thousands of U.S. citizens. A 2011 study estimated that citizens make up roughly 1 to 1.5 percent of all removals.
When reached by The Post, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said: “We don’t have data to provide you on the deportation of U.S. citizens because we don’t deport U.S. citizens.” According to a Government Accountability Office report from 2021, ICE carried out removal operations against at least 65 potential citizens during Trump’s first term.”
The Trump administration has severely overreached in its quest to be harder on immigration than any other administration in history, and are now taking out its aggression on U.S. citizens… likely for political reasons, but even more disturbingly, for NO reason.
They are beyond evil they are cruel and heartless monsters. They don’t care who they go after anymore. Well if they come after me they gonna need an army because I ain’t going down at all. Born and raised here but I will not stop my voice and my protests.💪💯💪💯💪💯💪💯💪💯💪💯💪💯💪💯💪
I'm having a difficult time fathoming that this is my country now...
it's going to be a very long four years.