Immigration enforcement just served up a major plot twist. Milo Yiannopoulos, the British conservative provocateur who spent years calling for aggressive deportations, found himself on the receiving end of that same policy on Friday. ICE agents detained him at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana, and by Saturday, he was headed back to the United Kingdom.
The irony is almost too much. Yiannopoulos legally entered the U.S. back in May 2019, but he overstayed his welcome—literally. His authorized stay expired, and an immigration judge issued a final removal order on July 22 after he missed a hearing. Now he’s experiencing firsthand what immigration enforcement actually looks like when it comes knocking.
Border czar Tom Homan made it clear that politics had nothing to do with the speed of removal. “We don’t deport people based on political affiliation,” Homan told CNN. “As soon as we get an order of removal, our goal is removing as quick as possible, regardless of who they are.” Whether you believe that depends on your own perspective on how these decisions get made.
Yiannopoulos had built quite the profile over the years. He rose to prominence as a Breitbart editor and passionate Trump supporter before losing major platforms amid controversy in 2017. He was even Kanye West’s political aide for a minute—though that relationship allegedly fell apart over Ye’s plans to create an adult website. Talk about a collision of ideologies.
But here’s where the real contradiction kicks in. In recent years, Yiannopoulos became vocal about stricter immigration policies. Just last June, he wrote, “We have got to deport millions and millions and millions of people.” Those words aged like milk left in the sun.
The final twist? Laura Loomer, his longtime rival, later claimed she had reported Yiannopoulos to ICE and the FBI. Whether that played a role or not, the outcome speaks for itself. Sometimes the policies you advocate for end up being the ones that catch up with you.
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