Amos Yee deported from the US, set to face charges under the Enlistment Act in Singapore
Aqil Hamzah
The Straits Times
March 20, 2026
Child sex offender Amos Yee was deported from the United States on March 19, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency confirmed to The Straits Times.
According to a State Courts portal, Yee is expected to be charged in Singapore on March 20 with offences under the Enlistment Act.
The 27-year-old was last housed at the Broadview Service Staging Area in Illinois on March 18, with the facility located a 17-minute drive from Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
As at March 19, his record was expunged from the ICE website, and a representative confirmed to ST by phone on the morning of March 20 that Yee “was removed from the US” on March 19, Singapore time.
He has been in ICE’s custody since November 2025, barely a week after he was released from an American prison.
According to a post on a blog maintained by his supporters, Yee signed his deportation papers on Feb 12, with his deportation likely to take place any time in the subsequent nine months.
In recent days, he had been transferred multiple times to various ICE facilities.
While he was initially held at the Dodge Detention Facility in Wisconsin immediately after being detained by ICE, he was later transferred to the Miami Correctional Facility in Indiana.
On March 16, he was sent to the Clay County Justice Center, also in Indiana, before being sent to the Illinois site.
Singapore’s Ministry of Defence had said in November 2025 that if Yee returns to the country, he will be charged under the Enlistment Act.
He failed to report for pre-enlistment medical screening and remained outside the country without a valid exit permit after leaving for the US in December 2016 to seek asylum.
Offenders who flout enlistment rules can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three years, or face both penalties.
Yee fled to the US after repeated run-ins with the law in Singapore over controversial comments that were derogatory to Christians and Muslims.
In March 2018, he was granted asylum, and in September that year, was released from ICE detention.
Two years later, he found himself in trouble after being indicted by a grand jury in an Illinois court for solicitation and possession of child pornography.
He had exchanged nude photos and messages with a 14-year-old girl from Texas while he was in Chicago, and was sentenced on Dec 2, 2021.
Barely halfway into his six-year jail term, he was released on parole on Oct 7, 2023, but re-arrested the following month.
While the reason behind this is unknown, it is believed that he had broken the terms of his parole.
These included restrictions, such as not being allowed to use the internet without approval from the state corrections department, and not being permitted to be near a place where children would be, unless the department allowed it.
- Additional reporting by Shaffiq Alkhatib
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