WASHINGTON
Milo Yiannopoulos, the British far-right provocateur, was deported to the United Kingdom on Friday after ICE arrested him in New Orleans for overstaying his visa and missing an immigration hearing.
ICE agents detained Yiannopoulos on Thursday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed his removal Saturday, citing an expired work visa and a deportation order issued by an immigration judge on July 22 after he failed to appear for his scheduled hearing.
Yiannopoulos legally entered the U.S. in May 2019 but remained in the country after his authorization expired, violating federal immigration law.
The irony was sharp: Yiannopoulos had been a fierce advocate for aggressive ICE enforcement and immediate deportations of undocumented immigrants. In 2022, he worked on Kanye West's aborted 2024 White House campaign and was reportedly working for a company associated with the rapper when arrested en route to West's concert at the Caesars Superdome.
Laura Loomer, a Trump-aligned far-right commentator and onetime Yiannopoulos rival, claimed Friday that she had reported his immigration status to ICE.
Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart News editor and intern to then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, had once held significant sway in conservative circles. He received a speaking slot at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2017 after backing Trump's first campaign. That standing crumbled in 2017 when video emerged of him appearing to condone sexual relations with boys as young as 13. He resigned from Breitbart, claiming his own history as a victim of teenage sexual abuse gave him license to comment.
Twitter banned him in 2016 for directing racist and misogynistic tweets at a Black actor in a Ghostbusters remake. Elon Musk's acquisition of the platform led to his reinstatement in 2022.
