U.S. Band Lord Buffalo Cancels European Tour After Drummer Is 'Forcibly Removed' From Flight: 'We Are Devastated'

Austin-based band Lord Buffalo canceled their European tour after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol "forcibly removed" drummer Yamal Said from a flight departing Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Monday. The band was en route to their first tour stop when Said, a legal U.S. resident, was detained.

In a written statement, Lord Buffalo band members said they have not been able to contact Said since his detention and are working with an immigration attorney to secure his release.

"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—He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him," the band said.

Said, a Mexican citizen and longtime U.S. green card holder, has lived in Austin since the 1980s and is well-known within the local music scene, per the Austin Chronicle. The drummer's parents relocated to Austin after an earthquake in Mexico City, where Said quickly joined the music scene as a band member and music instructor.

"We truly don't know what's going on. We have more questions than answers," the band added.

Lord Buffalo was on their way to Europe, where they planned to tour with Orsak: Oslo starting May 15, performing in cities like Copenhagen and Helsinki.

Said's detention comes amid an intensifying immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, which has increasingly swept up legal U.S. residents—and in some cases, even U.S. citizens—into the detention system without clear justification.

Civil rights groups have raised alarms over the rise in mistaken detentions, including the widely publicized case of Peter Sean Brown, a U.S. citizen held in ICE custody for nearly a month in 2024 despite repeated proof of his citizenship. Brown was nearly deported to Jamaica.