ICE Arrests Instagram Personality Farzad Tony Toutouni

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Iranian social media personality Farzad Tony Toutouni in Los Angeles on October 27 and is holding him pending removal proceedings, the agency said. Toutouni, who has more than one million Instagram followers, is an Iranian citizen. ICE announced the arrest on November 9.

The agency says Toutouni entered the United States legally in 1983 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 1993. ICE says he remained in the country until 1999, when a second removal order was followed by his deportation to Mexico. The agency alleges he reentered the United States illegally in 2011 near Saint Clair, Michigan.

According to ICE, Toutouni told authorities he crossed a river near Saint Clair on an electric raft he had bought in Canada. ICE places the alleged reentry on or about April 4, 2011. The agency has not provided a further date for the removal proceedings.

ICE also describes a criminal history dating to 1989. It says Toutouni was arrested on charges including criminal threats, criminal conspiracy, and possession and sale of a controlled substance. The agency says he was sentenced to more than 16 months in prison for other offenses,...