US immigration authorities have detained British political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos, who is subject to a final removal order, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and agency records.

Yiannopoulos, 41, was arrested on Thursday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the DHS said. The agency accused him of overstaying after entering the United States legally in May 2019 through New York. A DHS spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement: “He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.”

An immigration judge issued a final order of removal on July 22 after Yiannopoulos failed to show up for his immigration hearing, a DHS spokesman said. ICE’s online detainee locator does not say where Yiannopoulos is being held but directs family and legal representatives to the agency’s office in Alexandria, Louisiana, a deportation hub for international flights. Other reports say he is being held in a Louisiana ICE holding facility.

Representatives of Yiannopoulos did not respond to requests for comment. It is unclear whether he has legal representation. Neither ICE nor Yiannopoulos responded to the BBC’s request for comment, but his name and British origins appear in a search of detainees nationwide.

Background and political trajectory

Yiannopoulos is a former editor of the right-wing US website Breitbart and has done work for rapper Kanye West, now known as Ye. He was an early supporter of Trump during the 2016 election, headlining an event called Gays for Trump during the Republican National Convention that year, and has backed Trump’s tighter immigration restrictions. Deutsche Welle reported that Yiannopoulos was once a Trump supporter and advocate of the president’s immigration crackdown but has since fallen out with the Trump movement.

His social media posts show consistent support for aggressive immigration enforcement. In June 2025, he posted: “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.” He also wrote in September 2025: “Total legal immunity for ICE agents when they’re on duty.” In another June 2025 post, he said: “There is one concrete thing we must insist on this administration delivering. It matters a lot more than debts measured in imaginary money. We have got to deport millions and millions of people. Without that, nothing else matters.”

Yiannopoulos has been widely criticised for his comments about transgender people, Muslims, Black Lives Matter, feminists and gay people. He now calls himself an “ex-gay.” He has written columns titled “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy” and “Would You Rather Your Child Had Feminism or Cancer?”

In 2017, Yiannopoulos was uninvited from speaking at CPAC, a US conservative conference, after footage emerged of him appearing to condone paedophilia. He later apologised and resigned from Breitbart. He denied the allegations, saying he had been speaking about his own experiences as a child.

Yiannopoulos is regularly associated with the alt-right, a disparate nationalistic group that is outspoken against so-called political correctness and feminism. He says he does not consider himself part of the alt-right, although he has called it “energising and exciting.” He has called himself the “most fabulous supervillain on the internet.”

Circumstances of detention

Reports indicate Yiannopoulos was in New Orleans ahead of a concert where the artist formerly known as Kanye West was scheduled to perform Friday night. TMZ first reported Yiannopoulos’ status, CBS News said.

CBS News has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and ICE for additional details and the basis for his apprehension.