Right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos deported from US to UK
British commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was deported from the US to the UK on Friday after being detained by immigration authorities. Officials said he had overstayed his visa since arriving in 2019.
Milo Yiannopoulos, the 41-year-old British political commentator and former Breitbart News editor once linked to rapper Kanye West, was deported from the United States on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed.
A DHS spokesperson told the BBC that Yiannopoulos, described as "an illegal alien from the United Kingdom," had been sent back to his home country. He was arrested on 27 August after landing at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. According to DHS, he had entered the US in May 2019 and remained beyond his permitted stay, in violation of immigration law.
Yiannopoulos, who grew up in Kent, has long styled himself a provocateur, once calling himself the "most fabulous supervillain on the internet." He has been an outspoken advocate for stricter immigration enforcement, including support for on-the-spot deportations and legal immunity for ICE agents. Critics have accused him of promoting hate speech through his commentary on transgender people, Muslims, feminists and other groups.
He was an early backer of Donald Trump, headlining a "Gays for Trump" event at the 2016 Republican National Convention, though he has since become more critical of the president while still voicing support for his agenda.
In 2020, Yiannopoulos assisted Kanye West's unsuccessful presidential campaign, and he later worked with Marjorie Taylor Greene, the former Republican congresswoman who broke with Trump before resigning from Congress.
Far-right commentator Laura Loomer, who has feuded publicly with Yiannopoulos, claimed on X that she helped bring about his arrest, adding that DHS told her he is permanently barred from returning to the US.
Yiannopoulos was dropped from the 2017 CPAC conservative conference lineup after footage surfaced in which he appeared to condone paedophilia, allegations he denied while explaining he had been describing his own childhood experiences. He subsequently resigned from Breitbart. He has often been associated with the alt-right movement, though he says he does not consider himself part of it.
