The migrant influencer who showed other illegal immigrants how to squat in American homes will not be sent back to Venezuela, despite being deported due to a diplomatic spat.
An Ohio judge ordered Leonel Moreno, 27, to leave the United States on September 9. reports the New York Post.
But earlier this year, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stopped accepting deportation flights from the US and Mexico after Washington reimposed economic sanctions.
The Biden administration said at the time that Maduro’s authoritarian regime had failed to restore diplomatic order as agreed last October, and the nearly weekly US deportation flights to Venezuela ground to a halt in late January. according to the Wall Street Journal.
There are also no direct commercial flights from the United States to Venezuela after the federal Department of Transportation suspended them in 2019, citing reports of unrest and violence. Mexican authorities also said they would not deport Venezuelans on commercial flights, the Journal reported.
Leonel Moreno, who rose to prominence for a video encouraging migrants to squat in American homes, will not be sent back to Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has halted deportation flights from the US and Mexico after Washington reimposed economic sanctions
Moreno is instead being held in federal custody at the Geauga County Jail in Ohio after Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested him for violating the terms of his probation, a sentence imposed for entering the U.S. illegally on April 23, 2023.
He later gained notoriety after posting a TikTok video advising his followers on how to “invade” American homes and invoke squatting rights.
Moreno claimed in the video that under US law, “a house that is uninhabited can be seized.”
He was referring to squatters’ rights, or the law of prescription – a common law principle that allows an illegal occupant to become the owner of a property on the basis of continued occupation, without the consent of the rightful owner.
Moreno posted videos encouraging migrants to take advantage of US benefits
He traveled to the US with his wife and young daughter, whom he often features in his clips
It later emerged that Moreno may have been a sergeant in Venezuela’s Directorate General of Military Intelligence before crossing the border at Eagle Pass, Texas.
He traveled to the US with his wife and young daughter, whom he regularly features in his clips.
The family reportedly received $350 a week from the federal government. At one point, Moreno displayed $100 bills in a video encouraging other migrants to collect government assistance.
“I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave,” he said in the segment.
In some of his other videos, he is seen claiming to be begging for money on the streets with his young daughter.
Moreno is now being held in the Ceauga County Jail in Ohio
Moreno was eventually arrested in March.
He was sought by ICE officials, who said he had enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program, which allows immigrants on parole to be released while authorities monitor them until their next court date.
But Moreno failed to show up for his November 2022 court appearance in Miami and was registered as a “fugitive” in the program, leading to his arrest.
Moreno also faces possible weapons charges after he was seen in one of his videos brandishing a large firearm in a gun store and asking his followers which weapon they liked best.
The video was reported to Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He could face weapons charges after he was seen in one of his videos brandishing a large firearm in a gun store and asking his followers which weapon they liked best.
According to John Fabbricatore, former director of the ICE office, further charges would “escalate” the case against Moreno, the Post reported.
But after his arrest, Moreno claimed he was a victim of persecution.
“My life is in danger in the US! I need protection! I am being persecuted! My account is blocked!” he told his followers in a video, visibly sobbing.
‘My people, I want you to pay attention to what is happening because my family is in danger. They have deleted my TikTok accounts. I have received threats from powerful people. Help!’
In another video he added: ‘My people, they got what they wanted! The envy has reached my family! Everything that is happening is because of your evil!
“They want to silence me!”
In another video, from inside the Ohio prison, Moreno can be heard lamenting his conviction.
“I came to the United States because of the persecution in my country… But in the United States they do the same to me: they persecute me,” Moreno said.
“It’s all misinformation in the media about me. They slander me, they misrepresent me in the news… I’m a good father, a good son, a good person, humble, respectful to people who respect me.”