Washington — Far-right political commentator and deportation advocate Milo Yiannopoulos is currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody facing a final order of removal, according to U.S. officials and agency records. 

Yiannopoulos, who is British, was apprehended in the New Orleans area and is being held in a Louisiana ICE holding facility, the U.S. officials said. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Yiannopoulos came to the U.S. legally in 2019 but “chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation’s laws.” 

The DHS spokesperson said Yiannopoulos was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge on July 22, after failing to show for his immigration hearing. DHS said he will remain in ICE custody pending removal. 

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. Yiannopoulos has done work for the political and corporate ambitions of West, who’s now known as Ye.

“Being in detention is a choice,” the DHS spokesperson said. “We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now.”

Yiannopoulos, a poster of racist rhetoric, has been a supporter of ICE’s immigration enforcement efforts in the past.

“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 posted on social media in June 2025.

“Total legal immunity for ICE agents when they’re on duty,” he wrote in September 2025.

“There is one concrete thing we must insist on this administration delivering,” he wrote in June 2025. “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.”