Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Politics and Religion
I’m Not Sorry for Milo Yiannopoulos. But this is Wrong

I’m Not Sorry for Milo Yiannopoulos. But this is Wrong

Last updated on: September 2, 2026 at 11:30 pm by Mary Pezzulo

0 Comments

I’m Not Sorry for Milo Yiannopoulos. But this is Wrong 2026-09-02T23:30:15-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

the United States flag behind prison barbed wire

image via Pixabay

Yes, I’ve heard about Milo Yiannopoulos.

I heard about him Friday. I had been at a pristine hike at the Wildflower Reserve, where there were beautiful birds to listen to and crunchy acorns to step on and a glorious noisy river. When I got back to the car I saw his name in a headline, and seriously considered running back into the woods to never be seen again. I do not like the man. But when I got home, I discovered that the breaking news was that the erstwhile gay, recently reverted to Traditionalist Catholic, far-right commentator had been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). I hadn’t even remembered that Milo was an immigrant. I know he’s got that accent, but his voice is so loathsome that I never listen to videos of him with the sound on. In fact, I try not to see or think about Milo at all, because he is a monster.

I’ve tried as hard as I can, in my writing, to stress the difference between being factually wrong or mistaken, which is morally neutral, and being cruel, which is sin. You and I can have different notions about what is best for a country or for a human being, and we can hold those notions strongly and each think the other is foolish, and neither one of us is in sin. But happily savoring the misfortune of others, and actively working to make their suffering worse, IS a sin. There is not a circumstance in which that is morally neutral. And Milo definitely crosses the line. He’s called for deportation of “millions and millions” of immigrants like himself, “on the spot deportations” without due process for anyone who can’t instantly prove they’re a citizen, and “total legal immunity” for ICE agents. Last year, he tweeted “What is the etiquette if you are going about your business and find yourself observing an ICE raid? I want to show a little respect and decency. Are you allowed to masturbate where you stand, in the street, or should you find some kind of awning or motor vehicle?” A fine Catholic, indeed. But he didn’t seem to understand that he, himself, was an immigrant. In fact, it seems he was an illegal immigrant: he overstayed his visa, a misdemeanor. I don’t believe that a misdemeanor like overstaying a visa, which is equal in legal gravity to driving with an expired license plate, should result in an arrest, let alone detention and deportation. But Milo publicly enjoyed the thought of it happening to other immigrants, and now it’s happened to him.

Milo was deported back to his home country of England almost immediately. He’s currently whining to any media that will listen that he was “terrified” in ICE custody, that he didn’t understand how brutal our system was, and that he “wouldn’t wish it on anyone.” I’m having a hard time feeling sorry for him.

Now that we’ve had a giggle at the irony, I want to talk seriously about what’s being done to other immigrants.

What happened to Milo is, at one level, his just desserts, and on another level it’s unjust. It is ridiculously harsh, in my opinion cruel and unusual punishment, to arrest someone who has done nothing wrong except neglect to renew their paperwork on time, shove them in a cell without due process, and then force them onto a plane to another country. But Milo’s treatment was moderate compared to what’s happening to other people. He did, in fact, commit a crime, albeit a small one. For that crime, he was in custody for less than one weekend. And they sent him back to his own country, a safe country, where he has citizenship and speaks the language. I don’t have any energy to be sorry for him.

Compare Yiannopoulos’s situation to what’s being done to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, in my own state of Ohio. These are not immigrants who did anything wrong, not even a misdemeanor like overstaying a visa. They came here the right way, they had legal status, and they continue to follow the law. They went from being legal residents to illegal immigrants overnight, because the government arbitrarily decided to revoke their temporary protected status. They are in the process of being detained and fitted with ankle monitors like criminals, because of a decision someone over their heads made. Arrests are already being made; two Christian pastors are among those in detention. The government has not released official numbers of how many of them have been deported and when the others will be, but when they’re deported, they’ll be sent back to Haiti. Haiti isn’t England. Haiti is an extremely dangerous country which is under a level four “Do Not Travel” warning by the United States government. Gangs rampage around Haitian cities at night committing massacres and gang rapes, and have killed at least 16,000 people since 2022. The country also suffers from widespread acute food insecurity, rolling blackouts, medical care shortages, and waterborne disease. Getting deported to Haiti is nothing like what happened to Milo. Getting deported to Haiti is a death sentence. And the Haitians know it. Imagine how they feel right now.

One Haitian immigrant, Pierre Damas Bel, is already dead. He was a Wright State University freshman who graduated from high school with honors and was in the JROTC. He was not a criminal. He wanted to study neuroscience and play soccer. After DHS forced him to wear an ankle monitor, Pierre was bullied and abused by his fellow students until he stepped into traffic and died by suicide. That’s the first death that I know of, due to the dehumanizing treatment of the Haitian immigrants in Springfield. There will be many more.

And that’s just one group of immigrants. Human rights abuses are happening all over the country.

We are getting an enormous number of allegations of severe medical neglect of immigrant detainees all over the country, including chronically ill people being denied medication, flesh-eating bacteria that wasn’t treated, and a man who had to rip out his own infected tooth.

We’re getting reports that detainees are being fed spoiled and rotten food crawling with worms.

Detainees report that they’re being beaten and sexually abused by guards, sometimes resulting in severe injury.

Death rates in ICE detention are skyrocketing.

Some of the immigrants this is happening to have committed crimes. But it’s also happening to legal immigrants and no one will even tell them why. It’s being done to United States citizens as well, not only naturalized citizens but natural born citizens. No one is safe right now. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is allowed to do whatever it wants, and that means every human being in this country is in danger.

You don’t have to like all of the people being deported by ICE to realize that what ICE is doing is evil.

You don’t have to like OR dislike our immigration laws to see that this is wrong, because this is entirely lawless.

I don’t think you have to be Christian to realize that what’s being done to immigrants is evil. But if you’re Christian, you must remember that the Bible clearly states we are never to abuse immigrants. And if you’re Catholic, you need to be familiar with everything the Pope has been saying about the plight of immigrants. If you’re an American Catholic Christian, you should remember that these crimes are being committed in your name and mine. You and I are, in a sense, doing this, because the United States is supposed to be a democracy, and that means the government is supposed to be run by the people. This is on us. We have to fight to make it stop. People are already dying, and it’s only going to get worse.

I’m not sorry for Milo Yiannopoulos, but I’m sorry and ashamed of my country right now. And you should be to.

Mary Pezzulo is the author of Meditations on the Way of the Cross, The Sorrows an d Joys of Mary, and Stumbling into Grace: How We Meet God in Tiny Works of Mercy.

Steel Magnificat operates almost entirely on tips. To tip the author, donate to “The Little Portion” on paypal or Mary Pezzulo

Politics and Religion

Religion News

Uncategorized

ice

immigration and Customs Enforcement

Milo Yiannopoulos

Pierre Damas Bel

Previous Post

September 1, 2026

A Complicated Joy

Next Post

September 7, 2026 I'll Never Forget What Americans Did, for Money

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"So many of today's Republicans are the cultural descendants (and in some cases the biological ..."

alwayspuzzled

Americans are Equal, and Racism is ..."

"One of my best professors in undergrad was a Hindu man. I loved his class. ..."

Mary

Vivek Ramaswamy is All American, And ..."

"Found it!"

Mary

Vivek Ramaswamy is All American, And ..."

"Looks like a comment is in comment jail?"

Katherine Nielsen

Vivek Ramaswamy is All American, And ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "I am the Alpha and the Omega"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jesus John Moses Paul