a day ago
TikTok star Khaby Lame returns to social media after self-deporting for violating immigration rules
Khaby Lame has reemerged online after being kicked out of United States under President Donald Trump 's newly intensified deportation drive.
In his latest Instagram Stories, Lame appeared calm and composed, strolling down a leafy street in Italy.
Another frame showed him smiling alongside Brazilian soccer star Emerson Royal, who plays for AC Milan and the Brazilian national team.
The images follow days of uproar after Lame, born in Senegal but raised in Chivasso, Italy, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Las Vegas 's Harry Reid International Airport on June 6.
ICE claims he overstayed his visa after entering the country on April 30. He was granted 'voluntary departure', a bureaucratic euphemism for being kicked out.
'Seringe Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, was detained… for immigration violations,' ICE confirmed in a statement. 'Lame was granted voluntary departure… and has since departed the US.'
Since reclaiming the presidency in January, Donald Trump has made good on campaign vows to execute mass deportations and resurrect the muscular ICE machine that defined his first term.
His crackdown has swept up thousands, from undocumented workers to high-profile public figures, and even it now appears, the most-watched man on TikTok.
The move drew backlash from civil liberties groups and social media users alike, many of whom questioned why a beloved Italian citizen with 162.2 million TikTok followers and brand deals with the likes of Doritos, Boss, and Binance would be treated like a national security threat.
The deportation was first revealed by conservative influencer Bo Loudon, who claimed to have reported Lame and posted what he said was a screenshot from ICE's website indicating that the TikToker was being held at Henderson Detention Center in Nevada near Las Vegas.
Last month, Twitch streamer Hasan Piker - better known as HasanAbi - claimed he was detained at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and interrogated by ICE agents about his political views on Trump and Hamas.
His 40-minute video describing the ordeal has since racked up millions of views.
In Lame's case, the optics could not have been worse.
Last month he attended the prestigious Met Gala in New York, rubbing shoulders with Rihanna, Diana Ross, and fashion elite.
He wore a bespoke gray zoot suit that landed him on multiple best-dressed lists.
Born in Senegal and raised in public housing near Turin, Lame became famous during the pandemic after losing his job as a factory worker.
Conservative influencer Bo Loudon claimed to have reported Lame's detention on June 6 and posted an alleged screenshot from the ICE website stating he was at Henderson Detention Center in Nevada (Lame's name does no longer appears in the ICE detainee database)
He began posting wordless TikTok reactions that mocked the absurdity of overcomplicated 'life hack' videos offering instead a simple solution and a signature shrug.
By 2022, he had surpassed Charli D'Amelio as the most-followed person on TikTok.
Brands came calling with UNICEF naming him as a goodwill ambassador.
He walked the runway at Milan Fashion Week and built his empire on facial expressions rather than flashy speeches.
In 2022, Italy formally granted Lame citizenship after a national outcry over the delay.
He celebrated the moment as a victory for immigrants like himself who grow up Italian but are often excluded by bureaucracy
'Public housing is a place to which I owe everything,' he once told an interviewer.
