Right-wing agitator Milo Yiannopoulos detained by ICE in Louisiana

Washington: British far-right agitator Milo Yiannopoulos has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Louisiana and is being held in detention.

The Department of Homeland Security said Yiannopoulos “chose to overstay his welcome” after arriving in the US legally in 2019.

“Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing,” DHS said. “He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.”

DHS posted Yiannopoulos’ mug shot on X, and said he was arrested on Thursday (US time) at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Online ICE records showed Yiannopoulos was being held, but did not reveal at which facility.

Entertainment website TMZ, which was first to report the arrest, suggested Yiannopoulos may have been in Louisiana with rapper Ye – better known as Kanye West – with whom the British commentator has sometimes worked. Ye is scheduled to perform in New Orleans on Friday night, local time.

Yiannopoulos came to prominence as an editor at far-right US website Breitbart News. He corresponded and associated with various far-right figures and white nationalists, and was banned from numerous social media platforms.

In recent years, he reportedly worked as Ye’s chief of staff while the rapper embraced Nazism, antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Earlier this year, Ye apologised and expressed regret over his actions, attributing them to his bipolar disorder.