LOS ANGELES, Aug 29 - British commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was removed from the United States and sent back to the United Kingdom, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said on Saturday. The deportation took place on Friday, a day after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Yiannopoulos at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.
DHS officials said Yiannopoulos "chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws" after he had legally entered the United States in May 2019. According to the department, he did not appear for a scheduled immigration hearing and was issued a final order of removal on July 22.
Authorities said the arrest by ICE occurred at the New Orleans airport the day before the deportation. The department's statements outline the enforcement action and the administrative basis for the removal but did not provide further operational details.
Attempts to reach Yiannopoulos for comment were not immediately successful, the department noted. Media reports that first disclosed the arrest suggested he was in New Orleans ahead of a planned performance by the musician Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, who had been scheduled to appear in the city on the night of the arrest. Those reports did not provide confirmation from Yiannopoulos himself.
Yiannopoulos, 41, has long advocated for tougher immigration measures than those implemented by previous administrations, at times proposing measures such as ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances. He was an outspoken supporter of Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign and has frequently expressed anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant views.
In a post on the social media platform X in June 2025, Yiannopoulos wrote: "We have got to deport millions and millions and millions of people. Without that, nothing else matters." The post was cited in statements about his public positions on immigration policy.
This account reflects statements from the Department of Homeland Security and contemporaneous media reports about the arrest and subsequent removal. It limits itself to the information currently provided by those sources and notes where confirmation from Yiannopoulos is not available.