‘Migrant influencer’ in custody after videos on legal loopholes

(NewsNation) — A man who arrived in the United States illegally from Venezuela is now in custody after going viral for bragging about receiving free money from America and encouraging other newcomers to take advantage American laws protecting squatters.

In a TikTok video, Leonel Moreno, now nicknamed “the migrant influencer,” explained the squatting laws and suggested how to take advantage of them. His account has now been deleted from the platform.

“I learned that there is a law that says if a house is not inhabited, we can take it,” he said. “Here in the United States, terrain warping also applies, and I think that will be my next mission: invade abandoned houses.”

Moreno entered the country illegally in April 2022 in Eagle Pass, Texas and was released on parole, but authorities say he never showed up for his initial check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

When Moreno was initially processed, he was placed in the Alternatives to Detention program, where he was given a cell phone as a tracking device.

But because he didn’t follow the rules, Department of Homeland Security sources told NewsNation he was listed as a pre-order leaker and was kicked out of the program.

Those sources later confirmed to NewsNation that Moreno was in custody.

Moreno was ordered to appear in a Florida court in February 2025, but authorities had difficulty tracking him down. The address he initially provided was for a Catholic charity in Miami, but sources said he now had a possible address in Ohio.

Also in Ohio, Fermin Garcia-Gutierrez is another man allegedly taking advantage of the system and intelligence gaps.

Law enforcement in Butler County, Ohio, said Garcia-Gutierrez had been incarcerated in Sheriff Richard Jones’ jail 11 times, under seven different names and three different dates of birth. According to Jones, Garcia-Gutierrez has been reported eight times, but the 46-year-old continues to come back successfully.

Garcia-Gutierrez’s latest arrest was for possession of drugs and weapons while intoxicated and obstruction. His story isn’t the only one, with Jones saying that since 2021, the county has housed nearly 1,000 immigrant detainees along with ICE detainees.