A Latino-Canadian gay porn star has claimed US border patrol agents detained and interrogated him about his sexuality before banning him from entering the United States for 10 years over his history of escort work.
Milo Miles said the incident happened in January while he was travelling from Toronto Pearson Airport to Las Vegas. Because US-bound passengers leaving from Toronto clear American customs before boarding, he was questioned on the Canadian side of the border before even reaching the US.
Advocates for sex workers have long warned that US Customs and Border Protection can refuse entry to people it believes have engaged in sex work, even when there are no criminal convictions and no plans to work during the trip.
Speaking to LGBTQ Nation, Miles said the interrogation focused heavily on his homosexuality.
He claimed border officials questioned why he had so many “gay clothes” in his luggage and appeared unfamiliar with the PrEP medication he was carrying.
“My luggage and phone were searched. My privacy was violated,” Miles told the outlet.
“I was subjected to derogatory comments, with an unsettling focus on my sexual orientation and my sex life.”
Miles described what happened at the airport as “the most painful event of my life”.
He had been due to travel to Las Vegas to present at the GayVN Awards in late January, a major event in the gay adult entertainment industry.
“I was scheduled to present, had six nominations, and ultimately won one,” he said.
He was also planning to continue on to Florida to visit his partner.
According to Miles, he was initially stopped and questioned for two hours, before eventually being released. However, the delay caused him to miss his flight.
When he returned to the airport the next day, he said he was flagged again. This time, he claimed he was interrogated for six hours, after having little sleep the night before and with no food offered during the process.
Miles said border agents searched his devices and found evidence of his pornography work, as well as messages with escorting clients in Las Vegas.
He told LGBTQ Nation that while he acknowledged offering “boyfriend experience” escorting, there was no proof his work involved payment for sexual services. He also said he had no clients arranged for the trip.
Even so, Miles said he ultimately felt “manipulated and pressured” into accepting border agents’ interpretation of “prostitution” and unauthorised work.
He now claims he has been banned from the US for a decade.
Speaking from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Miles said the decision is affecting not only his work but also his relationship, as it prevents him from being with his partner in the US.
He said customs officials never clearly explained why his passport had been flagged in the first place, though he has his own theories.
“Could it just have been like a red flag related to increased travel to the US because my partner lives there?” Miles said.
“[Was] a new facial recognition software introduced? They saw that I do content using that software?”
He also said he believes the outcome could have been even worse had he been stopped after entering the US rather than during pre-clearance in Toronto.
“If I had been stopped inside the US,” he suggested, he feared he might have ended up in ICE detention.
Miles now has a blunt warning for queer travellers considering a trip to the United States.
“Avoid the United States at all costs,” he said.
“It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it to put your life at risk.”
His comments come amid broader concern from LGBTQIA+ advocates about the treatment of queer travellers at the US border.
Australian LGBTQIA+ groups, along with some European governments, have also issued warnings in response to increasingly hostile border and visa settings under the Trump administration, particularly for trans and gender-diverse travellers.
Last month, the US State Department finalised new rules requiring all visa applicants to disclose their “biological sex at birth”, a move that has raised fears about visa refusals and penalties for trans applicants.
