Viral TikTok sensation and Italian citizen, Khaby Lame, was recently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for allegedly overstaying his visa allowance. Following a brief detention, he was permitted to fly back.
Lame arrived in the United States on May 30, a few days before the MET Gala, which he was invited to attend alongside other famous celebrities and public figures.
While Italian citizens are permitted to travel to the US for business or tourism for approximately 90 days without a visa, Lame allegedly extended his stay in the States for longer.
This was revealed to the ICE by Bo Loudon, upon which immediate action was taken and Lame was detained on the grounds of “immigration violations”.
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Bo Loudon’s Role in Khaby Lame’s ICE Detention:
Bo Loudon is a conservative social media influencer and Barron Trump’s best friend. He tipped ICE about Lame’s overstay after hearing from “friends” and “business partners” about it.
Loudon described it as a “very quick process” with just a few calls proving enough to get the task done.
Upon discovering the 25-year-old content creator’s illegal stay, Loudon “personally took action to have him deported” and worked with immigration officials and the Department of Homeland Security in this regard.
Lame Detained by ICE in Las Vegas:
On June 6, he was stopped at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, when he was scheduled to fly back.
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Seringe Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, June 6, at the Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada for immigration violations,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to NPR.
However, according to reports, Lame was not detained for long and ICE granted him a voluntary departure.
Under this type of departure, he was saved from having a deportation order – under which he could be barred from entering the US for almost a decade – on his travel records.
Uptil now, neither Lame nor his team has commented anything on social media regarding his detainment.
More on Khaby Lame:
Seringe Khabane Lame, nicknamed as Khaby Lame, on social media is a Senegalese-Italian influencer, who rose to fame during the Covid era.
He was originally a factory worker, but after being laid off in the pandemic he began posting on social media.
Soon, he became famously known for posting silent videos, showing purely his reaction to absurdly complicated “life hacks”.
Lame, who is the most followed person on TikTok, with over 162 million followers, has credited his silent reaction style for helping him reach a global audience.
In 2022, he also signed a partnership with the designer brand, Hugo Boss. In January, he was appointed as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador.
Lame’s Detention Amid Rising U.S. Immigration Crackdowns Under Trump:
His detainment comes with the rising strictness of US immigration laws under the United States President Donald Trump.
Trump intends to remove millions of undocumented immigrants and has promised the “largest deportation operation in American history.”
As of early June, around 51,000 undocumented migrants were detained by ICE, and Khaby Lame’s detainment has made headlines, as he is one of the more famous figures to be detained and deported.
