Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right commentator and vocal supporter of Donald Trump, has publicly renounced his previous stance on US immigration policies after being deported to the UK. In his first interview since his removal, Yiannopoulos told Piers Morgan Uncensored that he was 'ashamed' of his support for Trump and described the experience of being arrested and detained as 'frightening' and 'physically degrading'.
Arrest and Deportation
Yiannopoulos was arrested on Thursday at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana after failing to appear at an immigration hearing. He was returned to the UK on Friday, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The DHS spokesperson said on Saturday: 'Yiannopoulos legally entered the country on May 14 2019, through New York City, New York. He chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation's laws.' The spokesperson added: 'Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.'
Yiannopoulos's Reaction
In his interview, Yiannopoulos expressed shock at the treatment he received. 'I don't think I've ever been frightened like that before,' he said. 'I didn't really understand the physical reality of how institutionalised the brutality is in America. The manner in which they arrest you. They put you in manacles, your hands, your feet, chained together. Everybody is arrested like an MS-13 gang member. And it hurts a lot more than it looks like on television.'
He described being moved repeatedly between facilities, saying: 'I was put from a detention facility to a correctional facility, every three hours, they were sort of trying to keep ahead of my lawyers… no-one would tell me anything. I mean, I know it's designed to be like that, but it was humiliating and it was disorientating all the rest of it, it was physically degrading. It was frightening.'
Background and Context
Yiannopoulos, who has called himself 'the most fabulous supervillain on the internet', has championed alt-right talking points on feminism, Islam, and immigrants. He was particularly supportive of Trump's immigration crackdown, despite being an immigrant himself. After his deportation, he said: 'If I had any clue that anything remotely like this was even possible, I would never have gotten involved in supporting Trump in the first place, and I'm very ashamed that I did.'
In the early 2010s, Yiannopoulos was recruited to the Breitbart website by Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon. He resigned from the company in 2017 after a video of him endorsing paedophilia resurfaced online. He later apologised for the remarks and said he had been a victim of sexual assault as a minor.
The deportation marks a significant reversal for Yiannopoulos, who now faces an uncertain future in the UK. His case highlights the consequences of overstaying visas in the US, even for those with high-profile political connections.
