ICE Nabs the Most-Followed Creator on TikTok as Part of Illegal Immigration Crackdown
The article discusses the ongoing operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the context of a highly publicized backlash against them in California. Despite protests, ICE agents are continuing to enforce President Donald Trump’s immigration policies by apprehending undocumented immigrants, including Khaby Lame, a prominent TikTok star known for his humor.Lame, who has gained massive popularity during the pandemic, was detained at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas for allegedly overstaying his visa, which he entered the U.S. on April 30. After his detainment, he was granted the option of voluntary departure.The article notes that Lame has a staggering following of 162.2 million on TikTok, surpassing many celebrities, highlighting the complex intersection of social media fame and immigration issues.
Despite the highly publicized California riots against them, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still hard at work implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration agenda.
While Los Angeles burns in protest against them, ICE agents are continuing to round up all manner of illegal immigrants in the country — even wildly popular ones.
According to multiple reports, ICE agents have apprehended Khaby Lame, an Italian-Senegalese immigrant who happens to have the most followers on the polarizing social media app TikTok.
USA Today reported that Lame (full name Seringe Khabane Lame) was detained at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on Friday.
ICE confirmed the detainment with the outlet on Sunday.
Lame rose to fame during the pandemic, according to The Hill. Before that brush with fame, Lame was born in Senegal, and then moved to Italy as a baby.
(The 25-year-old gained Italian citizenship in 2022.)
Lame would eventually reach the United States, where his quirky humor found a massive audience on TikTok.
“Using the hashtag ‘learnfromkhaby’ on many of his videos, Lame’s fame is more akin to the internet stardom of yore, in which an exasperated look or a quick humorous bit, stripped of any high production value or product placement, could take off on Vine,” USA Today describes.
That “internet stardom of yore” has translated to a whopping 162.2 million followers on TikTok.
Here’s one such example of Khaby’s popular recent videos:
@khaby.lame My bad man , I was training 🥷🏾#learnfromkhaby #comedy ♬ original sound – Khabane lame
In a simple video captioned, “My bad man, I was training,” Khaby took a viral America’s Funniest Videos clip and added his own bizarre bit of anime humor to it.
The above video, in all of its quirkiness, has over 17 million views.
Just to compare numbers, Lame’s 162 million followers is more than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and President Donald Trump … combined. Johnson has 80.4 million followers, while the president has 15.1 million followers.
World’s top TikTok star Khaby Lame allowed to ‘self-deport’ by ICE after attending Met Gala – and then overstaying visa https://t.co/CKcsKpoWae pic.twitter.com/EYavDdFJaw
— New York Post (@nypost) June 9, 2025
(Interestingly, while Trump has the fewest TikTok followers of the above three men, he has some of the most-watched videos, including one with over 83 million views.)
In spite of, or perhaps due to, the enormous following, he was put on ICE’s radar for apparently violating his visa.
He “overstayed the terms of his visa” after entering the country on April 30, according to what ICE told USA Today.
Lame was granted voluntary departure after being detained.
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