The illegal alien who posted a TikTok video instructing migrants to squat in unoccupied homes was taken into custody by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s Fugitive Operations team last Friday, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The New York Post reported in late March that Venezuelan national Leonardo Moreno’s TikTok videos were filmed in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. According to the Post, in one of the videos, a police car belonging to the Gahanna Police Department appeared in the background.
Police in the Columbus suburb told the Post that they were aware of Moreno’s videos but had no contact with the suspect and were not sure where he was staying.
According to ICE, Moreno illegally entered the United States on April 23, 2022, crossing the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas. Rather than detaining Moreno, ICE enrolled him in its Alternative to Detention program, which uses electronic monitoring like ankle monitors and smartphone apps to keep track of illegals in the US.
Moreno was instructed to report to an ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) office within 60 days. However, he failed to appear.
Moreno was then added to the long list of “absconders” from the program.
Gahanna police caught up with Moreno on March 29 and he was taken into custody and detained pending transfer to ERO.
In the viral video, Moreno instructed other illegal aliens on how to “invade” an unoccupied home and exploit “squatter’s rights” laws to remain. After the video went viral on social media, Moreno’s TikTok account was removed.
In the wake of the controversy prompted by Moreno’s video, the Florida legislature quickly passed legislation to deal with squatters in the state, and on March 27, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law.
Under the new law, Floridians whose properties get taken over by squatters can file a written request with the local sheriff’s office to have the squatters removed from the property immediately.
The law, which goes into effect on July 1, also makes it a first-degree felony for someone to rent or sell a property they do not own. Squatters who cause more than $1,000 in property damage would be charged with a second-degree felony.
