Former MAGA Firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos Arrested By ICE

Milo Yiannopoulos has been taken into custody by U.S. immigration authorities and is expected to remain detained while removal proceedings move forward.

The 41-year-old British political provocateur was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Yiannopoulos has not been a consistent Trump supporter. He was strongly pro-Trump in 2016, but later became openly critical of Trump. He still supports some major Trump-aligned policies, especially hardline immigration enforcement and mass deportations.

Federal officials said Yiannopoulos entered the United States legally through New York City on May 14, 2019. However, DHS said he remained in the country beyond the period he was authorized to stay.

“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,” DHS said in a statement.

An immigration judge reportedly issued Yiannopoulos a final order of removal on July 22 after he failed to appear for an immigration hearing.

He is now being held in ICE custody pending his removal from the United States. ICE sources told Fox News that he was detained in Alexandria, Louisiana, an area frequently used in federal deportation operations.

Yiannopoulos became nationally known during his time as an editor at Breitbart News. In more recent years, Yiannopoulos became involved with Kanye West as a spokesman and political adviser.

Earlier in 2022, Yiannopoulos spent time working as an unpaid intern for then-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

His professional relationship with West later deteriorated in 2024 after West announced plans involving an adult entertainment business under the Yeezy brand.

DHS also used Yiannopoulos’ arrest to highlight the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

The department said the administration had reversed policies from the Biden era that it argued allowed people living in the country illegally to travel domestically by commercial air.

ICE’s online detainee system showed Yiannopoulos remained in federal custody following his arrest.