Leonel Moreno, identified as a native of Venezuela who has been in the U.S. illegally since 2022, has gained prominence in recent weeks due to a series of social media posts glamorizing a lifestyle funded by American taxpayers.
He has even reportedly encouraged fellow undocumented migrants to become “squatters,” that is, break into someone else’s home and refuse to leave. The practice has become frustratingly common in many communities across the nation where laws tend to provide a squatter with more rights to the property than its rightful owner.
A recent update to the narrative surrounding Moreno indicated that he was placed in a federal program known as Alternatives to Detention whereby he was fitted with an ankle monitor and released instead of being housed in any of the facilities that have become overcrowded amid the ongoing border crisis exacerbated by the Biden administration’s policies.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement documents referenced by the New York Post, however, indicated that Moreno has violated the terms of the program and was subsequently classified as an “absconder.”
Authorities in Gahanna, Ohio, where his recent videos were apparently recorded, said they had received reports about his behavior but had no additional information to share.
“To date, our agency has had no contact with this individual and we are unaware of his location,” the police agency stated.
As for the ATD program in which Moreno was reportedly enrolled, a number of sources have questioned the rationale behind releasing more than a million migrants. Former ICE field office director John Fabbricatore, for example, called the program “nothing short of a failure.”
In reference to the situation involving Moreno, he added: “We have witnessed yet another individual who was allowed entry into the U.S. under the ATD program, only to abscond and make TikTok videos explaining how to break the law. The question stands: How many thousands more are out there unaccounted for after fleeing this program?”
Reports indicate Moreno’s TikTok account has been removed, though his Instagram posts were still available for view as of this writing.
Noted migrant now promotes squatting as a business model. pic.twitter.com/sy8tTIMuzn
— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) March 20, 2024
In one of his more controversial posts, Moreno promoted squatting by announcing in Spanish: “I found out that there is a law that says if a house is not inhabited we can seize it.”
