The mugshot of an illegal immigrant and social media “influencer” from Venezuela has been revealed as authorities try to pin him down.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials told the Daily Mail that 27-year-old Leonel Moreno has been running from authorities since he crossed the border at Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2022, the outlet reported Thursday.
The Mail shared the mugshot of the man:
“ICE had lost track of Moreno until his videos telling migrants how to live off the state started going viral. They now have him listed as possibly living in Columbus, Ohio,” the report said.
Moreno went viral online after promoting squatting as a way to take over property and instructing other migrants on how to “invade” the homes of American citizens, Breitbart News reported on March 21.
The outlet continued:
In a video with nearly 800,000 views, Moreno says in Spanish: “I found out that there is a law that says if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it.”
Referring to highly controversial “squatter’s rights” laws that exist in varying forms around the U.S., the influencer said the rules allow for a “land invasion.”
…
He claimed that he knows other migrants who have already successfully squatted in and seized houses, saying, “My African friends have told me that they have already taken about seven homes.”
However, the man’s TikTok account, @leitooficial_25, was later suspended, and a spokesman for the platform told the Mail it is against the rules for users to promote criminality on the platform.
The outlet noted:
Moreno enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, which lets migrants on parole go free while officials track them until their next court date. But he didn’t show up for his court date in Miami in November, 2022, and is now listed as an “absconder” from the program.
He recently posted videos of himself crying on another account and claimed he was being persecuted and threatened following his initial suspension from the social media platform.
One clip shows him holding a baby, saying he needs protection, adding, “They are chasing me!”:
Moreno apparently hopped onto Instagram Wednesday to mock American taxpayers while holding a stack of money for viewers to see, Fox News reported on Thursday.
According to Fox, a translation of the video said, “I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave. I came to the U.S. to mark my territory.”
“You’re hurt because I make more than you without much work while you work like slaves, understand? That’s the difference between you and me,” he added. “I’m always going to make lots of money without much work, and you’re always going to be exploited and miserable and insignificant.”