Milo Yiannopoulos deported to the U.K. after ICE arrest over visa overstay
Milo Yiannopoulos, the British far-right commentator and vocal deportation advocate, was removed from the United States on Friday, a day after federal immigration authorities arrested him in New Orleans for overstaying his visa, U.S. officials said Saturday.
Yiannopoulos entered the country legally in May 2019 but remained past the authorized period, according to the Department of Homeland Security. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 22 after he failed to show up for an immigration hearing, the department said. He was arrested Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson described the action as a reversal of what the agency called the “horrendous Biden-era policy” that let undocumented immigrants fly around the country. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this,” the spokesperson said. “This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
Yiannopoulos was in Louisiana ahead of a concert by the artist formerly known as Kanye West, now known as Ye, according to reports. He has done work for the political and corporate ambitions of the rapper.
The deportation is a remarkable turn for a polemicist who has built a following around hard-line positions on immigration, Islam and feminism. He was banned from Twitter for several years over hateful attacks on comedian Leslie Jones. He has also supported ICE’s immigration enforcement efforts, and in June he posted that California should place ICE checkpoints at “supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings,” with on-the-spot deportation for anyone who cannot prove they are in the U.S. legally.
It was not immediately clear whether Yiannopoulos would challenge his removal or attempt to re-enter the country. His departure underscores the administration’s broader enforcement push as officials seek to deport not only recent border crossers but also foreigners who have remained in the U.S. after their legal status lapsed.