British right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE
The right-wing provocateur was arrested at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana on August 22 after failing to appear at an immigration hearing.
British right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by US immigration officials, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed.
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Mr Yiannopoulos was arrested at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana on August 22 after failing to appear at an immigration hearing.
A spokesperson for DHS said: “He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.”
He has referred to himself as “the most fabulous supervillain on the internet” and has championed alt-right talking points on feminism, Islam and immigrants.
He has been especially supportive of US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“Zero immigration for the next 20 years. No ifs, no buts,” Mr Yiannopoulos wrote on X last year.
Immigration officials noted that Mr Yiannopoulos initially arrived legally in the US in 2019 and referred to him as an “illegal alien”.
The DHS spokesperson said: “Yiannopoulos legally entered the country on May 14 2019, through New York City, New York. He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.
“Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing. He will remain in Ice custody pending removal.
They added that being in detention was a “choice” as the US government is offering money and free flights for people to “self deport”.
In the early 2010s Mr Yiannopoulos was recruited to the Breitbart website by Mr Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, and was known to refer to Donald Trump as “daddy”.
He resigned from the company in 2017 after a video of him endorsing paedophilia resurfaced online, and later apologised for the remarks and said he had been a victim of sexual assault as a minor.
He more recently ran a short-lived presidential campaign for the rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) and reportedly worked as an intern for former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.