TikTok influencer Khabane “Khaby” Lame has been deported back to his home country. The Senegalese-Italian influencer is known for his comedic “life hack” videos on TikTok, where he has over 163 million followers.
The aspiring model has also walked the runway for Hugo Boss. He recently attended the Met Gala in New York City (above).
Khaby was born in Senegal and immigrated with his family to Italy where he was raised in public housing. The family was poor and Khaby worked in a factory to help out at home.
During the Covid pandemic, in March 2020, Khaby was fired from his factory job. He pulled out his cell phone and began recording silent videos in his bedroom.
Khaby, 25, quickly became the biggest influencer on TikTok with over 163 million followers. He is paid $750,000 for a single post on TikTok. In 2022 he earned over $10 million in revenue.
Khaby’s first purchase with his newfound wealth was a house for his parents.
According to Newsweek, Khaby arrived in the U.S. on April 30 and was detained by immigration officials at Harry Reid airport in Las Vegas on June 6 “for immigration violations.”
ICE officials confirmed that Khaby was detained for overstaying his visa but he was released the same day after agreeing to self-deport.
“Lame entered the United States April 30 and overstayed the terms of his visa. Lame was granted voluntary departure June 6 and has since departed the US,” ICE officials said in a statement to Men’s Journal.
The incident was first reported by political activist and Trump supporter Bo Loudon, who claimed he played a role in alerting ICE officials to Khaby’s arrival in the US.
“I discovered he was illegal who overstayed an invalid VISA, evaded taxes, and I personally took action to have him deported,” Bo Loudon wrote in a post on X (Twitter).
Loudon also claimed he collaborated with “the patriots at President Trump’s DHS to make this happen”.
Khaby’s deportation is part of President Donald Trump’s plan to use local police, ICE agents and the military to carry out the largest mass deportation in US history.
Trump plans to deport 15-20 million immigrants during his second term in office.
Green card holders who have lived legally in the US for decades can also be deported if they have a single conviction for a deportable crime.
