Popular TikTok Star Self-Deports After ICE Arrest

TikTok star Khaby Lame has voluntarily left the United States after being detained by ICE agents in Nevada for overstaying his visa, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained the 25-year-old Senegalese Italian influencer, whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame, on June 6 at the Harry Reid International Airport near Las Vegas, a Senior DHS official confirmed in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.

“Lame was granted voluntary departure June 6 and has since self-deported the U.S.,” the official said.

Voluntary departure allows individuals facing removal from the United States to leave at their own expense, avoiding a deportation order on their immigration record, which could otherwise bar them from reentering the country for up to a decade.

Lame arrived in the United States on April 30, an ICE spokesperson said.

Lame, a citizen of Italy, is the world’s most popular TikTok personality, with about 162 million followers on the Chinese-owned app, earning millions in revue and sponsorships. He rose to international fame during the COVID-19 pandemic with videos that show him silently reacting to complicated life hacks.

He moved from his native Senegal to Italy as an infant but was not granted citizenship until 2022 because of strict Italian citizenship laws.

Lame told The Associated Press that before finding fame on TikTok, his family had been poor but happy.

Nowadays, “it’s another reality, it’s completely another world,” he said, adding that he was still not used to life in the spotlight but was gradually adapting.

Lame is also a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. He has not publicly commented on his detainment in Las Vegas.

Lame’s detainment and voluntary departure from the United States come as protests continue across the country in response to ICE operations. ICE revealed on Wednesday that some 300 illegal aliens had been detained at the protests and are in the process of being removed from the country.

By Katabella Roberts | The Epoch Times