Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos has described his recent arrest and deportation from the United States, stating that the experience left him feeling like an "MS-13 gang member" and "ashamed" of his past support for President Trump and his immigration policies.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Yiannopoulos recounted the events of his arrest, which occurred after he failed to appear for a hearing more than a month after receiving a final removal notice. He claimed the process was "institutionalized brutality" and described being manacled and chained. "Everybody is arrested like a MS-13 gang member," Yiannopoulos stated, adding that the physical reality of the arrest was more severe than it appears on television.
The 41-year-old British national had entered the U.S. legally in 2019. His arrest on August 27 at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport followed a final removal order issued on July 22, according to the Department of Homeland Security. He was deported the following day.
Yiannopoulos contested the government's account of the events leading to his arrest, asserting that the notices were sent to old addresses and that he missed his hearing due to this administrative error. He mentioned being married to an American citizen, although he is also in the process of a divorce and identifies as "ex-gay."
He further alleged that his work permit was canceled without notification and that this information was deliberately withheld from his attorney. "I've seen all the machinery of the government lining up to lie," he claimed.
Yiannopoulos, who has previously worked with Kanye West and associated with Nick Fuentes, also alleged that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied him access to a phone and a nurse while in custody, and that he was not provided food for 24 hours. He also claimed two immigration agents reportedly walked off the job upon seeing he had been detained.
The experience, he told Morgan, led him to feel deeply "ashamed" of his prior endorsements of Trump and his administration's policies. "To think that the promise and hope and joy and the anticipation of Trump 2016 could, sort of, over the course of 10 years, collapse into this ugly, warmongering, whole mentally ill heap of crazy – with some of the most unstable and lunatic people, seemingly directing the President’s actions!" he said. "If I had any clue that anything remotely like this was even possible, I would never have got involved in supporting Trump in the first place and I’m very ashamed that I did."