Khaby Lame is a Senegalese-Italian social media star, and is the most-followed influencer on TikTok, amassing over 163 million followers. Khaby Lame also has over 80 million followers on Instagram.

Conservative commentator Bo Loudon appears to have been the first to publicly mention Lame's detention. Loudon claimed that he reported Lame to authorities on June 6 and shared what he claimed was a screenshot from the ICE website indicating that Lame was being held at the Henderson Detention Center in Nevada.