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The migrant influencer who showed other illegal immigrants how to squat in US homes will not be deported back to Venezuela, despite being ordered out of the country due to a diplomatic spat.
An Ohio judge ordered Leonel Moreno, 27, to leave the United States on September 9, the New York Post reports.
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 failed to restore diplomatic order as agreed upon last October, and the almost weekly deportation flights from the US to Venezuela came 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 reports.
Leonel Moreno, who gained notoriety over a video in which he encouraged migrants to squat at US homes, will not be deported back to Venezuela
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro stopped accepting 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 - which he was put on for illegally entering the US on April 23, 2023.
He later gained notoriety after posting a TikTok video advising his followers on how to 'invade' American homes and invoke squatter's rights.
Moreno claimed in the video that under United States law, 'if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it'.
He was referring to squatter's rights, or adverse possession laws - a common law principle that allows an illegal inhabitant to acquire ownership of a property based on continuous occupation without the legal owner's consent.
Moreno posted videos encouraging migrants to take advantage of US benefits
He traveled to the US with his wife and young daughter, whom he frequently features in his clips
It later emerged that Moreno may have been a sergeant of the Venezuelan general directorate of military intelligence prior to crossing the border at Eagle Pass, Texas.
He traveled to the US with his wife and young daughter, whom he frequently features in his clips.
The family had reportedly been given $350 a week from the federal government, with Moreno at one point flashing $100 bills in a video encouraging other migrants to collect government handouts.
'I didn't cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave,' he said in the clip.
Some of his other videos showed him claiming that he was begging for money on the streets with his baby daughter.
Moreno is now being held at the Ceauga County Jail in Ohio
Moreno was finally arrested in March.
He had been wanted by ICE officials, who said he enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program - which lets migrants on parole go free while officials track them until their next court date.
But Moreno didn't show up for his court date in Miami in November 2022, and was listed as an 'absconder' from the program, leading to his detention.
Moreno may also be on the hook for gun 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 like best.
The video was flagged to Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
He may face gun 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 like best
Any further charges would 'escalate' the case against Moreno, former ICE field office director John Fabbricatore told the Post.
But following his arrest, Moreno claimed he was a victim of persecution.
'I am in danger of death in the US! I need protection! I am being persecuted! My account has been blocked!' he told his followers in a video, as he visibly sobbed.
'My people, I need you to pay attention to what's happening because my family is on danger. They erased my TikTok accounts. I have received threats from powerful people. Help!'
In another video he added: 'My people, they have gotten what they wanted! The envy has reached my family! Everything that's happening is because of your evilness!
'They want to silence me!'
In another video from the Ohio prison, Moreno was heard complaining about his conviction.
'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,' Moreno said.
'It's all misinformation in the media about me. They're defaming me, They're misrepresenting me in the news... I am a good father, a good son, a good person, humble, respectful to people who respect me.'
English (US)