Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, who has advocated for aggressive immigration enforcement and immediate deportations, is now facing deportation himself.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Yiannopoulos, a British citizen, Thursday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Yiannopoulos, 41, legally entered the United States through New York City in May 2019 but overstayed his visa, DHS said. After he failed to appear for an immigration hearing, a judge issued a final order of removal on July 22.
He will remain in ICE custody pending his deportation.
The detention marks an ironic turn for Yiannopoulos, who has publicly advocated for the same aggressive immigration enforcement that now threatens to remove him from the country.
Yiannopoulos has previously called for ICE checkpoints at supermarkets and other public places, where people would be required to prove their legal residency or face immediate deportation. He has also called for expanded protections for ICE agents.
The British commentator rose to prominence as an editor at the far-right website Breitbart during Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign, gaining notoriety for inflammatory commentary on immigration, feminism and Islam, as well as his involvement in the Gamergate controversy.
Yiannopoulos resigned from Breitbart in 2017 after comments surfaced in which he appeared to condone sexual relationships between adults and minors.
He later returned to conservative political circles, including a stint as an intern in then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s congressional office. Yiannopoulos also worked for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and helped arrange the rapper’s infamous 2022 dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trump and white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who has feuded publicly with Yiannopoulos, celebrated his detention and claimed credit for alerting federal authorities to his immigration status in multiple posts on X.
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Yiannopoulos is being held in Louisiana, which has become a major hub for the Trump administration’s deportation operations.
His detention comes amid the administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown, which Yiannopoulos himself had encouraged.
DHS said he will remain in custody “pending removal from the United States.”
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