(ConservativeSense.com) – An illegal alien from Venezuela who crossed the border in 2022 and went viral recently for calling on other illegal aliens to come to the US and squat in vacant homes is now wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to a report from the New York Post, Leonel Moreno was enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, which gives illegal aliens the chance to roam free with an ankle monitor instead of being placed in a detention center, all of which face overcrowding. ICE documents now list Moreno as an “absconder,” having since abandoned the ankle monitor and disappeared.
Moreno recently made headlines after a video he recorded and posted on social media went viral. In that video, Moreno instructed his followers about squatting rights and how to “seize” unoccupied properties in the US. He also claimed in the video that he learned “some cheat codes” from some of his “African friends,” who Moreno claimed have seized at least seven homes since entering the country. Moreno has gained millions of views and thousands of followers on social media yet remains at large.
Moreno’s TikTok account, which gained him most of his following, has since been deleted, but his Instagram account is still active. On Wednesday, March 27, he shared a video that showed him beside his baby daughter while flashing a stack of hundred-dollar bills.
How far ICE will actually go to detain Moreno is unclear but a former field office director, John Fabbricatore, told reporters that illegal aliens who abscond from the program aren’t usually actively tracked down by federal agents and recaptured until they come up on the radar of local law enforcement.
Although unintentionally, Moreno’s viral video and his story have sparked a nationwide conversation about squatting and squatters’ rights. Conservatives and Republican voters are repudiating such laws, which they view as disadvantageous to landlords, especially in urban centers like New York City, Los Angeles, or Philadelphia.
Another story that sparked the conversation came out of Queens when a woman was arrested after changing the locks on a property she owned to try and remove multiple people squatting there.
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