Far-right provocateur and former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and faces deportation from the United States, the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
The British national was arrested Thursday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport after overstaying his visa and failing to appear for an immigration hearing. An immigration judge issued a final removal order on July 22.
“He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws,” DHS said. Yiannopoulos will remain in ICE custody pending his removal.
Yiannopoulos rose to prominence at Breitbart during the 2016 presidential campaign, becoming one of the most recognizable — and controversial — figures in far-right media. He resigned from the outlet in 2017 after video resurfaced in which he appeared to condone sexual relationships between adults and minors.
The controversy also prompted the Conservative Political Action Conference to rescind his speaking invitation and Simon & Schuster to cancel publication of his planned book.
Yiannopoulos built his profile through inflammatory commentary targeting Muslims, immigrants, feminists and other groups, along with a series of confrontational appearances on college campuses. Twitter permanently banned him in 2016 following a harassment campaign targeting “Ghostbusters” star Leslie Jones. His account was later reinstated after Elon Musk acquired the platform.
He later briefly interned for former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and became an adviser to Ye, formerly Kanye West, working on the rapper’s 2024 presidential bid.
A source familiar with Ye’s operation told TheWrap in May that Yiannopoulos continued to advise the rapper. During the same period, Yiannopoulos posted a series of antisemitic messages around Ye’s public apology for his past antisemitic statements, including posts published immediately before and after the apology.
In posts reviewed by TheWrap, Yiannopoulos asked, “Why do Ashkenazi Jews find the letters ‘DNA’ so frightening?” and declared, “It’s Catholics and Muslims versus Protestants and Jews.” The source argued that Ye’s continued association with Yiannopoulos cast doubt on the sincerity of the rapper’s effort to distance himself from years of antisemitic statements and behavior.
Ye was scheduled to perform in New Orleans on Friday night. It was not immediately clear whether Yiannopoulos was in the area because of the concert or in connection with his continued work for the rapper.
Yiannopoulos’ detention comes after years of publicly supporting the aggressive immigration-enforcement policies now being applied to him. In a June 2025 social media post, he called for ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings, as well as immediate deportation for anyone unable to prove they were legally in the country.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer claimed Friday that she had reported Yiannopoulos to ICE and took credit for his detention. TheWrap could not independently verify whether her report played any role in his arrest.