Washington — Milo Yiannopoulos, the British far-right political commentator known for advocating deportations, is in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and faces a final order of removal, U.S. officials and agency records show.
Yiannopoulos was taken into custody in the New Orleans area and is being held at an ICE detention facility in Louisiana, officials said. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said he entered the United States legally in 2019 but “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.”
According to DHS, an immigration judge issued the final removal order on July 22 after Yiannopoulos failed to appear for his immigration hearing. The department said he will remain detained by ICE while awaiting removal.
Yiannopoulos was reportedly in New Orleans ahead of a Friday night concert scheduled to feature Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West. TMZ first reported his detention status. Yiannopoulos has previously worked on West’s political and business-related efforts.
“Being in detention is a choice,” the DHS spokesperson said. “We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now.”
Yiannopoulos, who has posted racist rhetoric, has in the past publicly supported ICE’s immigration enforcement operations.
“California needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings, with on the spot deportation for anyone who can’t prove they are in the US legally,” he posted on social media in June 2025.
“Total legal immunity for ICE agents when they’re on duty,” he wrote in September 2025.
“There is one concrete thing we must insist on this administration delivering,” he wrote in June 2025. “It matters a lot more than debts measured in imaginary money. We have got to deport millions and millions of people. Without that, nothing else matters.”
