Milo Yiannopoulos, the British-born right-wing commentator, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Louisiana, according to federal officials. While the exact facility holding him has not been disclosed, the ICE directory advises family members and legal representatives to contact the Enforcement and Removal Office in Alexandria, Louisiana. That processing center serves the central part of the state and sits roughly 200 miles from New Orleans.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security stated in an email that Yiannopoulos legally entered the country through New York City in May 2019. “He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” the statement read. According to DHS, an immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 22 after Yiannopoulos failed to appear for his immigration hearing. He was taken into custody on Thursday, August 27, and officials say he will remain in ICE custody pending deportation.
Background on His U.S. Career and Visa Status
Yiannopoulos previously lived and worked in the United States, reportedly on an O-1 visa reserved for individuals with extraordinary abilities in fields such as the arts, sciences, and journalism. He was never a U.S. citizen.
He first gained prominence in American politics at the right-wing website Breitbart, where he worked from 2014 to 2017. His departure followed backlash over remarks in which he suggested that sexual relationships between adults and adolescent boys could be “perfectly consensual.” Yiannopoulos has moved in and out of conservative circles since then. In 2022, he claimed to have organized a widely reported dinner at Mar-a-Lago involving Kanye West, white nationalist Nick Fuentes, and Donald Trump, saying his goal was to “make Trump’s life miserable.”
Yiannopoulos married his longtime partner in Hawaii in 2017 but later, in 2021, said he had become heterosexual and Roman Catholic and announced plans to open a conversion therapy facility in Florida. He subsequently worked alongside Fuentes and former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Ties to Kanye West and Public Feuds
Yiannopoulos serves as a spokesman for Kanye West, who is scheduled to perform at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans as part of his 2026 tour. Yiannopoulos joined West’s proposed 2024 presidential campaign in late 2022 but departed days after the rapper praised Adolf Hitler during an appearance on Alex Jones’ Infowars livestream. The two repeatedly reconciled and parted ways in the years that followed. In a series of posts on X in 2024, Yiannopoulos claimed West was addicted to nitrous oxide.
His time as a MAGA figure has been marked by frequent public disputes. Among his rivals is conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who pinned a post on X announcing his ICE detention and appeared to take partial credit for it. “I was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally,” Loomer wrote, adding that he would be “deported back to the UK.”
According to DHS, Yiannopoulos was detained on August 27 and remains in ICE custody pending removal.
