Anti-Trump Streamer Hasan Piker Was Detained by CBP at Airport: ‘Insane’

Hasan Piker, among the most influential voices in progressive politics, said over the weekend that he was detained and questioned by immigration officials at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.

Newsweek reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for comment via email on Monday.

The Context

Piker’s detention came amid the Trump administration’s harsh crackdown on immigration and border security, which has included detaining and questioning American citizens, permanent residents and those who are otherwise legally permitted to be in the U.S.

What To Know

Piker, who hosts popular streaming shows on Twitch and YouTube, detailed his detention on Monday, saying CBP officials questioned him in Chicago about his views on President Donald Trump, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Hamas and a slew of other political issues.

“They straight up tried to get something out of me that I think they could use to basically detain me permanently,” Piker said on his livestream, a video of which was posted on YouTube.

He added that the agent who questioned him “kept saying stuff like, ‘do you like Hamas? Do you support Hamas? Do you think Hamas is a terror group or a resistance group?'”

The progressive streamer has long criticized the Israeli government over its military action in the Gaza Strip since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, accusing Israel of carrying out a “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza.

Piker first announced his detention in an X post on Sunday, writing: “[I] got stopped by cbp at global entry for additional questioning. i’m out it wasn’t that bad. very strange experience overall though.”

Piker said on his livestream that he was “instantly” told to “step aside” for additional questioning while going through a Global Entry checkpoint after flying into Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from France.

“‘Here we f—— go,'” Piker recounted thinking, adding that he immediately texted his family members and manager when he was on his way in for more questioning.

The progressive streamer, who is a U.S. citizen and passport-holder, said he was eventually taken to a separate room for questioning, adding that the experience was “an insane f—— situation.”

“It’s very obvious that they knew exactly who the f— I was, it’s very obvious that they knew exactly how to navigate the conversation,” Piker said. He went on to say he believes the agent who questioned him was “very cordial” because “they wanted me to say something that was incriminating and say something that was enough to justify further detention from that point on.”

“And let me tell you: they certainly did do that … He was basically, like, broaching the conversation in a way where it was, like, free-flowing, where in the process of discovery, he was adding on additional talking points,” Piker said.

The left-wing influencer said that the agent asked him what he does for a living, what topics he discusses on his livestreams, what he thinks about “the war” and whether he discusses Trump.

Piker said the stream of questions prompted him to respond, “Why are you asking me this? What does this have to do with anything?”

“None of these questions are actually valid questions to ask,” Piker said to his livestream audience. “But I was entertaining it because … I didn’t want to present it as being difficult because I didn’t want to extend the detention, and two, I actually wanted to see how far I could take it.”

He said that on certain questions, he was “very revealing” about his political views, telling the CBP agent: “I don’t like Trump … I’m not fond of him. I don’t like him. He said he was going to end the war. He hasn’t ended the wars. What the f— is up with that?”

Piker went on to characterize the agent as being “sympathetic” to his views but said he believes immigration officials wanted to assess if he had any involvement with groups like Hamas, Hezbollah or the Houthis.

When asked how he felt about Hamas, Piker said that he “kept repeating the same statement over and over again. I kept saying: ‘I’m on the side of civilians. I want the endless bloodshed to end. I am a pacifist. I want wars to end.'”

This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.