(NewsNation) — A jailed migrant who came to the U.S. illegally from Venezuela claims he is being unfairly persecuted and misrepresented, according to the New York Post.
Leonel Moreno, who has been referred to as the “migrant influencer,” was arrested last month after he went viral for bragging about getting free money from America and encouraging other migrants to take advantage of U.S. laws protecting squatters.
In a jailhouse interview with the New York Post, the 27-year-old claimed he is a victim of an unjust “persecution,” insisting he was arrested because of his social media videos.
“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 told the New York Post.
He continued, “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 husband, a good son, a good person, humble, respectful to people who respect me.”
In one TikTok video, Moreno explained squatting laws and suggested how to take advantage of them. His account has now been removed from the platform. However, his Instagram and Facebook accounts remain active.
“As we have more migrants moving into cities, more homelessness, we are going to see more squatting,” said James Burling, a property rights attorney. “They’re talking about all the advantages that you can get from squatting, it’s inevitable that it’s going to increase.”
In previous videos, Moreno bragged about initially coming to the U.S. for vacation but says he now lives off of U.S. taxpayers due to having a child in the country. He refers to his daughter as a “goldmine” and the family’s breadwinner, additionally revealing he awaits Americans’ pension checks every month.
In another video, he urges fellow Venezuelans to pay the fines of a 15-year-old migrant accused of shooting a tourist in New York City’s Times Square earlier this year, warning, “Today it could be him, tomorrow it could be one of you.”
However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Moreno into custody after he failed to show up to his initial check-in with the agency after he illegally crossed into the country in April 2022 in Eagle Pass, Texas, and was paroled.
When Moreno was initially processed, he was placed in ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program, where he was given a cellphone as a tracking device.
But because he didn’t follow the rules, Department of Homeland Security sources told NewsNation he was terminated from the program.
Moreno has an order to appear in a Florida court in February 2025, but authorities had trouble tracking him down. The address he initially provided was for Catholic Charities in Miami, but sources said he now has a possible address listed in Ohio.
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley and Hena Doba contributed to this report.