Milo Yiannopoulos, a far-right provocateur who praised U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before recently being detained by the agency, said in an interview Sept. 1 that his time in custody left him "weeping like an old woman."
Yiannopoulos, a native of the United Kingdom, became a prominent political commentator in the lead up to President Donald Trump’s first term in office. Known as a whisperer of the alt-right, including neo-Nazis, Yiannopoulos delivered controversial speeches at university campuses where he railed against everything, from Islam to trans people.
The Briton was arrested Aug. 27 by federal agents in Louisiana after overstaying a visa. He had previously been issued a final order of removal after failing to show up for an immigration
hearing in July. After being detained, Yiannopoulos was deported to the U.K. on Aug. 28.
"I didn’t really understand the physical reality of how institutionalized the brutality is in America," Yiannopoulos said in an interview with fellow British commentator Piers Morgan on "Piers Morgan Uncensored".
"It was physically degrading. It was frightening," he told Morgan. "I don’t think I’ve ever been frightened like that before."
Yiannopoulos described immigration authorities putting him "in manacles," said they treated detainees like "MS-13 gang members" and said they kept moving him constantly in order to "keep ahead" of his lawyers.
"It hurts a lot more than it looks on television," Yiannopolous said.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security regarding Yiannopolous’ claims regarding his treatment in ICE custody.
The right-wing commentator’s deportation comes after he championed immigration enforcement efforts as recently as June 2025.
He called for ICE to set up checkpoints at everyday American gathering places where "anyone who can’t prove they are in the US legally" would be subject to an "on the spot deportation."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deported right-wing pundit says ICE has 'institutionalized' brutality
