Elham Asaad Buaras
The right-wing commentator who repeatedly demanded the “indiscriminate” deportation of Somalis and millions of other migrants has himself been expelled from the US after immigration authorities found he had overstayed his status.
Milo Yiannopoulos, the 41-year-old British far-right commentator and former Breitbart editor, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport on August 27 and flown back to the UK the following day.
In a December 2025 post on X, Yiannopoulos declared, “Punishing Somalis indiscriminately, as a group, and deporting them all, is the only way this administration will persuade the voters it is serious and up to the job.”
Earlier that year, he wrote: “We have got to deport millions and millions and millions of people. Without that, nothing else matters.”
He also advocated “on the spot deportation for anyone who can’t prove they are in the US legally” and called for “total legal immunity” for ICE agents.
In an interview with broadcaster Piers Morgan following his return to Britain, Yiannopoulos addressed his previous comments on deportation.
Confronted by Morgan over his call for the collective deportation of Somalis, Yiannopoulos acknowledged the post but said he had been “obviously exaggerating” and described the remarks as “mean-spirited”.
He also described his detention by ICE as frightening and humiliating, saying he had been “really, really terrified” and criticising his treatment by officers.
The US Department of Homeland Security rejected his account, accusing Yiannopoulos of trying to “demonize the same ICE law enforcement officers that he publicly supported until the shoe was on the other foot.”
DHS said he had not been denied food, medical care or a phone call while in custody.
Official accounts indicate that Yiannopoulos was removed because of his immigration status, not his political views or statements about Somalis.
DHS said he entered the US legally on May 14 but subsequently overstayed his immigration status. An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 22 after he failed to attend a scheduled immigration hearing.
ICE apprehended him at the New Orleans airport on August 27 and carried out the removal order the following day.
DHS described him as an “illegal alien from the United Kingdom” who had been sent “back to his home country”.
White House border czar Tom Homan backed the account, saying Yiannopoulos had overstayed his visa, missed his immigration court date and was subject to a final removal order.
Yiannopoulos disputed the government’s findings, telling Morgan that he believed he remained in legal status and that his green card had been cancelled without proper notification.
He said he is married to an American citizen and had been trying to resolve his immigration status.
Yiannopoulos also criticised his former support for Donald Trump, saying he was “very ashamed” of it and had failed to understand the immigration system he had previously supported.
An early Trump supporter, Yiannopoulos headlined a “Gays for Trump” event at the 2016 Republican National Convention before later distancing himself from the former president.
In March, he wrote on X that Trump had “lost his way” and had been “bought off by foreign interests”.
Yiannopoulos became prominent as an editor at Breitbart News, serving as its technology editor and later leading Breitbart Tech from 2014 until his resignation in February 2017.
He left Breitbart amid controversy over comments concerning sexual relationships between adults and minors. Yiannopoulos denied advocating paedophilia, saying he had been reflecting on his own childhood abuse.
He later worked on Ye’s presidential campaign and was employed by former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Throughout his career, Yiannopoulos has faced criticism over comments targeting Muslims, immigrants, women, transgender people, gay people and Black Lives Matter.
