Left-wing influencer Hasan Piker detained and questioned by border officials

Chicago, Illinois - A high-profile left-wing and political commentator said Monday he was detained for hours by US border officials and interrogated about his views.

Hasan Piker, a high-profile left-wing influencer and political commentator, was detained for hours by US border officials and interrogated about his political views. © Collage: Screenshots/Instagram/@hasandpiker

Hasan Piker – who has millions of followers on YouTube, Twitch, and X, and has been outspoken in his criticism of – says he was held at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport for over two hours on Sunday.

He spoke out as the administration of President is facing growing criticism over claims of punitive action taken by federal agents against legal US residents for merely voicing progressive opinions.

Piker said his exchanges with officials were largely cordial but added that an officer asked him about his views on Trump and whether he has been in contact with militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

"He's like, 'Do you talk about Trump?' And that was the first time where I was like, 'What is this question?'" Piker said on a video posted to his Twitch account.

"I literally straight up told him. I was like, 'Why are you asking me this... what does this have to do with anything?'"

Piker says he told the official: "I don't like Trump. Like, what are you going to do? It's protected by the First Amendment."

The commentator maintains that his online content has never broken the law and only engaged in speech protected by the Constitution.

NEWS: Hasan Piker Detained, Interrogated by U.S. Customs Over Political Views

Twitch streamer and political commentator Hasan Piker (@hasanthehun) was detained for several hours by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Chicago O’Hare on May 11 after returning from France. Agents… pic.twitter.com/pS6wsCZyi9

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 12, 2025

i got stopped by cbp at global entry for additional questioning. i’m out it wasn’t that bad. very strange experience overall though. https://t.co/pWlKt6kQGL

— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) May 11, 2025

Hasan Piker says Trump administration is trying to "create an environment of fear"

"The reason for why they're doing that is, I think, to try to create an environment of fear, to try to get people like myself – or at least like others that would be in my shoes that don't have that same level of security – to shut... up," Piker added.

Advocacy group Defending Rights & Dissent said it was "deeply disturbed" by the notion of border officials stopping political commentators to interrogate them about constitutionally-protected speech.

"Such an abuse of power is an affront to press freedom," it said.

US Customs and Border Patrol did not respond immediately to a request for comment.