Milo Yiannopoulos, a British far-right commentator known for his controversial views, was arrested by US Immigration officials on Thursday in New Orleans. This arrest was confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security. Further details regarding the reasons for his arrest have not been disclosed.
Yiannopoulos Detained by US Immigration at New Orleans Airport
Yiannopoulos was taken into custody by immigration officials on Friday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. He is facing allegations of overstaying his visa after entering the United States legally in May 2019 via New York City. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 22, following Yiannopoulos’s failure to attend his immigration hearing. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stated, ‘He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.’
Around that time, Buzzfeed reported on Yiannopoulos’ cozy relationships with self-proclaimed white nationalists. The British national has most recently worked for the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who is scheduled to perform in New Orleans on Friday evening. ICE’s online detainee locator doesn’t say where Yiannopoulos is being held but directs family and legal representatives to the agency’s office in Alexandria, Louisiana, a deportation hub for international flights. Representatives of Yiannopoulos did not respond to a request for comment. It is unclear whether he has legal representation. Yiannopoulos is a well-known champion of conservative causes and has frequently taken provocative public positions criticizing feminism, Islam and immigrants. He has been especially supportive of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. Yiannopoulos rose to fame in the early 2010s as an incendiary writer for the conservative website Breitbart News. Yiannopoulos’ arrest Friday comes amid a nationwide uptick in detentions as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown. Far-right conservative activist Laura Loomer swiftly took to social media to applaud Yiannopoulos’ arrest after years of public feuding between the two personalities. Fights broke out when some students protested Yiannopoulos’ appearances and accused him of hate speech, while others celebrated him as a champion of free speech. In recent years, Yiannopoulos continued to work in the orbit of conservative activism. Most recently, Yiannopolous has worked as a spokesperson for Ye, who has been beset by controversy of his own following antisemitic comments that the rapper has since apologized for. (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
“Zero immigration for the next 20 years. He resigned from the company in 2017 after a video of him endorsing pedophilia resurfaced online. In 2022, he was an intern for former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, according to the Washington Post. He subsequently ran the short-lived 2024 presidential campaign for Ye.
He later apologized for the remarks and said he himself was a victim of sexual assault as a minor. “I was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally where he incited violence against President Trump and worked for Marjorie Traitor Greene,” Loomer wrote on X. Controversy around Yiannopoulos ballooned in 2017 when he carried out what he called his “Troll Academy Tour” across college campuses nationwide.
No ifs, no buts,” Yiannopoulos wrote on the social platform X last year.
