British national Milo Yiannopoulos arrested by ICE, held pending removal

Milo Yiannopoulos, a United Kingdom national, was arrested by ICE on August 27, 2026, at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, and remains in ICE custody pending removal, according to NBC News. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Yiannopoulos will remain in ICE custody pending removal after failing to appear for an immigration hearing on July 22. An immigration judge subsequently issued a final order of removal against him. Yiannopoulos legally entered the U.S. on May 14, 2019, through New York City, but "chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation's laws," according to a DHS spokesperson cited by NBC News. The spokesperson said the Trump administration is "working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport." According to NBC News, Yiannopoulos previously served as chief of staff for Kanye West when West attempted to run for president in 2020 and 2024. Yiannopoulos also worked at West's Yeezy clothing brand but resigned from that job two years ago after West announced plans to launch an adult entertainment studio, NBC News reports. It remains unclear whether Yiannopoulos was in the state to attend a concert West is scheduled to perform at Friday night at the New Orleans Caesars Superdome. Yiannopoulos is a former editor for Breitbart who resigned from that position in 2017 amid backlash to his reported comments about teens and sexual abuse, per NBC News. Reason reports that in June 2025, Yiannopoulos wrote that "California needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections and government buildings, with on the spot deportation for anyone who can't prove they are in the US legally." Reason also reports Yiannopoulos wrote "We have got to deport millions and millions and millions of people, because without that, nothing else matters." In an October post, Reason reports, Yiannopoulos taunted about making sure "the right people" knew to deport left-leaning British commentator Mehdi Hasan, an American citizen, writing "Let him squeal 'I'm more American than you!' as they are dragging him onto his one way flight." In a 2016 interview with Joe Rogan, Reason reports, Yiannopoulos said "I mean bad immigrants. I don't mean handsome, charming, successful, blonde-haired British immigrants...It's about culture." TMZ first reported the ICE arrest, per NBC News.