British far-right political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, who has called for supermarket Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) checkpoints and summary deportation of anyone failing to prove legal US residency, has been detained by the authority, records showed on Friday.
ICE’s parent agency, the United States Department of Homeland Security, said Yiannopoulos (41) was arrested on Thursday at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport and is subject to a final order of removal.
According to the department, Yiannopoulos legally entered the US in May 2019 through New York City, but “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws”.
A DHS spokesperson said Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on July 22nd, “after failing to show up for his immigration hearing”.
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“He will remain in ICE custody pending removal,” 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.”
As of Friday afternoon, Yiannopoulos is listed in ICE’s online detainee database as being in “ICE Custody”. The database states that he was born in the United Kingdom, but it does not disclose any additional details, including where he is being held.
The statement comes as multiple outlets reported on Friday that Yiannopoulos had been detained in Louisiana. Fox News reported that Yiannopoulos is currently detained in Alexandria, Lousiana.
Yiannopoulos, a former editor of Breitbart News, previously served as an intern for Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former US representative, in 2022, and also worked on the 2024 White House Campaign of Ye, formerly known as Kanye West. It is unclear why Yiannopoulos might have been in Louisiana, but Ye is scheduled to perform in New Orleans on Friday night.
Last year, in posts on social media, Yiannopoulos had been supportive of immigration enforcement in the US.
“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 wrote in a social media post in June 2025.
On social media on Friday, Laura Loomer, the far-right activist and ally of US president Donald Trump, claimed credit for Yiannopoulos’ detention and wrote that she had previously reported him to ICE.
Yiannopoulos was not immediately available for comment and it was not known whether he has obtained legal representation. – Guardian and Reuters
