(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Remember the Venezuelan illegal alien who went viral on TikTok for posting videos on how to exploit U.S. taxpayer-funded benefits? He was deported back to Venezuela and required special security after fellow deportees attempted to lynch him.
The illegal alien, TikTok influencer Leonel Moreno, has been widely cited as a factor in why the public’s sentiment toward Venezuelan asylum seekers turned sour.
For years, the U.S. government bent over backward to shield Venezuelans under the assumption nearly all of them were victims fleeing socialism—until now.
Moreno entered the U.S. during the height of the Biden administration’s open border chaos and was subsequently paroled into the country, where he launched a social media campaign aimed at educating other illegal aliens on how to take advantage of the generosity of American taxpayers.
Operating under the handle “Leito Official,” Moreno encouraged would-be illegals to enter the U.S. and occupy Americans’ homes. He released several videos boasting about the cash assistance available to him.
@leitooficial_26
In one clip, Moreno thanked “Daddy Biden” for providing him with food stamps. He advised illegals to purchase clothes from American stores and then return them after use. He also mocked working Americans who pay rent and maintain nine-to-five jobs.
His social media career ended in March 2024 when ICE agents busted him after he failed to appear for a mandatory check-in, according to the New York Post. An immigration judge ordered his deportation to Venezuela—a country that, at the time, had not accepted the return of its nationals.
Enter President Donald Trump.
Under Trump’s directives, Venezuela began accepting deportations of individuals. Moreno was among those deportees.
Venezuelan Minister of Interior Diosdado Cabello stated that Moreno required special protection after some deportees tried to beat him.
“Many people were upset with this gentleman because his social media campaign made Venezuelans be targeted as criminals throughout the world,” Cabello said in Spanish at a press conference.
“Many of them were upset. From the beginning, we had to provide him with special protection because of the anger among the other passengers,” Cabello added.
Leito Oficial, the Venezuelan TikToker who thumbed his nose at our laws and told illegals to squat in OUR homes, finally got shipped back to Venezuela. Maybe now we can protect our borders and stop rewarding criminals. Deportation is serious🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nMTh9RcxEG
— Antony Banderas 🇺🇸 (@Banderahs) March 28, 2025
Moreno’s case—along with other high-profile criminal incidents—triggered the Trump administration to halt Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.
Other cases that fueled similar sentiments include the vicious murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man, admitted during the Biden administration, and the rape and killing of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, allegedly committed by Venezuelan nationals Johan José Martínez-Rangel and Franklin José Peña Ramos.
Martínez-Rangel and Peña Ramos entered the U.S. illegally between March 14 and May 28. Weeks later, Nungaray’s body was discovered in a Texas ditch.
