The internet is just filled with controversial characters, the kind of people who will do anything and use anyone to get famous. Migrant influencer Leonel Moreno was already pretty controversial, but he might have crossed a line this time.
Who is Leonel Moreno?
Not a great deal is known about Moreno, other than the fact that he was originally from Venezuela; an article from the Daily Mail reports that he illegally crossed the border in 2022. He also has a wife and a one-year-old daughter. He creates content mostly on TikTok and Instagram sharing tips on how to “live off the U.S. government.” At its peak, his TikTok account reached around half a million followers, although it has recently been taken down.
His controversial videos
Moreno gained widespread notoriety after posting a video talking about a U.S. law which supposedly allows people to invade uninhabited homes and appropriate them. In his videos he encourages people to break into empty properties and “seize them.” Moreno, understandably, received a lot of negative attention, although he did not take it down.
It seems he was talking about adverse possession laws, although his summary is entirely wrong. An article from Politifact debunks his claims but to summarize, there isn’t a federal law allowing for this, it varies state to state but even then you’d have to live at a property for a set amount of years to make a claim. In other words, you can’t just bust down someone’s door while they’re out shopping and claim their home as your own.
This is pretty bad advice and it’s reckless to share something like that. If people believe what Moreno is saying, and actually try something similar, somebody could get hurt.
The child services probe
In March it was revealed that Moreno was under investigation by child services. According to an article from Times Now News, the reason for the probe was because he was using his baby daughter as a “prop” in his videos. Videos are still up on his Instagram account which show him singing and waving money around whilst his baby squirms.
Leonel Moreno’s arrest
Moreno was apprehended by ICE on the 29th of March and is currently in jail. The reason for his arrest was a failure to show up for check-ins as part of a parole scheme, but he’s also awaiting federal firearm charges. Speaking with the New York Post, he claimed that he was being persecuted. “I came here to the United States because of persecution in my country … But they’re doing the same thing to me in the United States – persecuting me.” His theory is that he’s been arrested for his inflammatory content, but either way, it’s unclear exactly what is going to happen to him and his family.