A Venezuelan migrant famous for sharing tips on how to invade empty houses and live off the US government has been revealed to be on the run from ICE.
Leonel Moreno’s TikTok account @leitooficial_25, where he had amassed half a million followers, has been suspended after his controversial videos went viral. A TikTok spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the platform does not allow users to promote criminal activities.
It is now known that Moreno has been on the run from immigration authorities since he illegally crossed the US-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, in April 2022, according to reports. The New York Post.
Moreno enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, which allows immigrant parolees to be released while officials track them until their next court date.
But Moreno, who now apparently lives near Columbus, Ohio, failed to show up for his court date in Miami in November 2022 and is now listed as an ‘absconder’ from the program.
Leonel Moreno’s TikTok account @leitooficial_25, where he had accumulated half a million followers, would have been suspended
“We have witnessed another individual who was allowed to enter the US under the ATD program, only to abscond and make videos on TikTok explaining how to break the law,” the former field office director for ICE, John Fabbricatore.
“The question remains: how many thousands more are missing after fleeing this program?”
DailyMail.com has reached out to ICE and TikTok for comment on this story.
On Tuesday, Moreno posted several clips apparently sobbing on a newly created account as he claimed he was being persecuted and threatened after his original TikTok account was suspended on Saturday.
‘I am in danger of death in the United States! I need protection! I’m being chased! My account has been blocked!’ he said as the liquid fell from his nose.
‘My people, I need you to pay attention to what is happening because my family is in danger. They deleted my TikTok accounts. I have received threats from powerful people. Aid!’
In another video he added: ‘My people, you have gotten what you wanted! Envy has come to my family! Everything that is happening is because of your evil!
‘They want to silence me!’
It seems that Moreno has no plans to stop his particular type of content, as he shared a clip on Wednesday counting hundred dollar bills and saying that he doesn’t need to work to make money.
In one of his now-viral videos, Moreno instructed his followers how to “invade” American homes and invoke squatters’ rights, stating that under American law, “if a house is not inhabited, we can confiscate it.”
Moreno also made headlines in February after demanding that Venezuelans come together to help a 15-year-old migrant accused of shooting a tourist and trying to kill a New York police officer in Times Square.
The videos have been widely shared as Venezuelan migrants fleeing the collapse of their country become one of the largest nationalities arriving at the US-Mexico border.
It seems that Moreno has no plans to stop his particular brand of content, as he shared a clip on Wednesday counting hundred dollar bills.
Some of his other videos show him claiming to be begging for money on the streets with his young daughter.
Venezuelans have taken to social media to denounce him as a troll, accusing him of using his situation to become an influencer while generating hatred against migrants who plan to work for a better life in the United States.
“It has gone absolutely viral for all the wrong reasons and is a complete disgrace and embarrassment to my home country,” wrote Daniel Laplana on X.
“I have nothing but contempt for that guy and his unbearable caricature of a Venezuelan migrant,” said Venezuelan-American Rafael Estruve, president of the Houston Young Republicans.
“Their farce is a crude mix of incompetence and arrogance put on full display, and is by far one of the worst representations of Venezuelans on a public platform.”
Others accused Moreno of “provoking anger,” with many Venezuelans believing he is deliberately trying to stoke anger to get more views and become profitable on TikTok as the United States welcomes record numbers of Venezuelans.
In fact, the coverage helped Moreno increase his follower count: In February, when one of his videos first went viral, he had fewer than 219,000 followers, about half the number he had when his account was suspended last week. pass.
On Friday, Moreno livestreamed himself sleeping, with up to 270 people watching the still image and sending donations.
One of the comments his fans left him said: ‘Earn money while you sleep hahaha you are the best.’
Some of his other videos show him claiming to be begging for money on the streets with his young daughter. Others show him bragging about using the financial help he supposedly receives from the government to help his young son buy a car.
In several clips, Moreno shows viewers the dirty area under a bridge that he believes would serve as a great living space while he saves up to rent a house.
Many of his fans seem to see Moreno as something of a comedian, with comments claiming that he is playing into the migrant stereotype in the United States.
Other videos show him bragging about using the financial help he supposedly receives from the government to buy his little one a car.
On Friday, Moreno livestreamed himself sleeping, with up to 270 people watching the still image and sending donations.
However, regardless of Moreno’s actual intentions or positions, his comments have sparked outrage among Americans already concerned about the crisis at the border, fueled largely by Venezuelans fleeing socialism.
A comment on Moreno’s TikTok read: “We Americans are going to vote for politicians in November who will deport you to Venezuela as soon as possible.”
Another said: “I hope they take your baby away from you and send you back to your country, you’re causing too much trouble.”
Venezuelans represent the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 7.7 million people outside their nation, even more than Ukrainians and Syrians.
It is a rare case of mass migration from a country that is not at war but has experienced one of the most extreme reversals of fortune in recent history after the socialist takeover 20 years ago.
Venezuela has suffered political, economic and humanitarian crises over the past decade, making food and other necessities unaffordable for those who remain. The vast majority of those who fled settled in neighboring Latin American countries, but many began arriving in the United States in the last three years.