Illegal Immigrant Who Urged Others to Squat in People’s Homes Arrested by ICE

An illegal immigrant influencer from Venezuela who went viral with his TikTok videos urging other migrants to squat in people’s homes has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.

Leonel Moreno, who was arrested by ICE’s Detroit field office and is in federal custody, was caught by the agency’s fugitive ops team in Gahanna, Ohio last week.

Moreno illegally entered the U.S. April 23, 2022 and was placed into the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program by Border Patrol, but had absconded from the program after failing to report to an ICE office within 60 days of arriving at his destination.

Moreno had reportedly claimed his family was receiving $350 a week in government handouts and that he is making over $1,000 a day as a TikTok influencer. 

The Venezuelan previously told his audience he planned to make a business out of “invading” abandoned houses and taking them over with squatters’ rights laws, then selling them for a profit.

“I have thought about invading a house in the United States,” he said in the TikTok video. “I found out that there is a law that says that if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it.”

Moreno also made fun of people who work to make their money.

“You’re hurt because I make more than you without much work while you work like slaves, understand?” he said. “That’s the difference between you and me. I’m always going to make lots of money without much work, and you’re always going to be exploited and miserable and insignificant.”