TikTok star Khaby Lame has spoken out after being made to leave the United States after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Following President Donald Trump's controversial immigration crackdown, protests have raged in Los Angeles after immigration raids saw some people living legally in the US caught in the crossfire.
TikTok star Khaby Lame was among those detained by ICE after being accused of overstaying his visa after entering the country on April 30.
Lame was granted "voluntary departure", meaning he was ordered to leave the country after being stopped by ICE agents at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on June 6, after attending the Met Gala in May.
The 25-year-old TikToker - whose real name is Seringe Khabane Lame - has over 162 million followers on the platform, making him the creator with the biggest following on the app.
A senior Department of Homeland Security official told the New York Post in a statement: "US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Seringe Khabane Lame, 25, a citizen of Italy, June 6, at the Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada for overstaying the terms of his visa.
"Lame was granted voluntary departure June 6 and has since self-deported the US."
The social media star was born in Senegal but raised in Chivasso, Italy, and has reportedly since returned there from the US.
He shared his first post after the incident, showing him appearing calm as he strolled down a leafy street, per the Daily Mail.
He also shared a photo of him with Brazilian soccer star Emerson Royal, who plays for AC Milan and the Brazilian national team, with the location tagged as Sao Paolo.
The renewed focus on deportations comes after Trump reclaimed the presidency in January.
The mass deportations have drawn backlash from civil liberties groups as well as the public, who have taken to the streets in Los Angeles to protest.
Many have questioned the heavy-handed approach to removing people from the country, such as Lame, the beloved content creator who is TikTok's most-followed star, and has brand deals with several big companies including Doritos and Boss.
Lame's deportation was first revealed by conservative influencer Bo Loudon, who claimed to have been the one to report the TikTok star and said that Lame was being held at the Henderson Detention Center in Nevada near Las Vegas.
He is not the only social media figure who has allegedly had a run-in with ICE as Twitch streamer Hasan Piker - also known as HasanAbi - last month claimed to have been detained at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and interrogated by ICE agents about his political views on Trump and Hamas.