Illegal Immigrant 'Influencer' Facing Possible Gun Charges

AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

There is a crisis at the southern border. Tens of thousands of people are crossing, our federal government seems disinclined to do jack squat about it. Now, I get that people want to live in this country because, well, it's awesome.

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And while illegal immigration is a major problem, the vast majority of illegal immigrants probably do just want to make a life for themselves here.

But there's a sizeable portion who don't have any desire to actually fit in with American life, and one so-called influencer made his name posting videos telling people to squat in folks' homes, among other things.

He was recently arrested, and some of the charges are interesting for folks here at Bearing Arms. (From our sister site Hot Air)

The situation continues to deteriorate for Venezuelan "migrant influencer" Leonel Moreno. Following his relatively brief career as an online celebrity who dispensed advice to illegal aliens about home invasions and panhandling scams, he was arrested last week by ICE and detained on illegal immigration charges. He had allegedly violated the terms of the "probation" he was given by Joe Biden. Now it has been revealed that he is facing potential gun charges on top of everything else. The ATF has been in contact with ICE and they are working on figuring out if Moreno had further violated the law by possessing a firearm while being on probation. No specific charges have been revealed yet, but it is probably safe to assume that he had a gun on him or somewhere among his possessions when he was taken into custody. If so, he could find himself in detention far longer than he would for his initial immigration law violations. (NY Post)


Leonel Moreno, the “migrant influencer” who mocked America on social media and encouraged migrants to squat in the homes of US citizens, is now facing potential federal firearms charges, The Post has exclusively learned.

Internal federal documents reviewed by The Post show the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been in contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) regarding Moreno, and are mulling charges against him.

The exact charges are not known, but sources said they would likely be brought under a section of the gun control act which prohibits those on parole from possessing, shipping, transporting or receiving any firearms or ammunition.

You might think that someone who was allowed into this country under dubious circumstances might remain on their best behavior to avoid the risk of being sent back to the hellhole they fled from originally. But that's clearly not Leonel Moreno's style. As we've discussed here previously, this guy is a real piece of work. He came to America illegally with the expectation that he would be gifted everything he needed for free and would be allowed to take whatever he pleased. Why wouldn't he believe that he could flout our firearms laws? He was just taking Joe Biden at his word and assuming that he had a golden ticket.

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Now, let's understand that yes, there is some case law now saying illegal immigrants can be in possession of a firearm. Yet as Hot Air's Jazz Shaw notes above, Moreno pretty much fell under a categorization of probation, which meant that even if illegal immigrants were able to have guns, at least in theory, Moreno couldn't.

Then there's the fact that there are some issues with the judge's ruling on illegal immigrants having guns in the first place. I suspect that ruling will be overturned in due course.

Regardless, Moreno is...special.

See, while I think a lot of illegal immigrants really just love the opportunities available here in the United States, Moreno isn't one of those. He's bashed the US and wanted his fellow illegals to basically steal people's homes. I get that he's from a socialist country and probably doesn't understand private property as well as you or I might, but he knew it was wrong just the same.

If he had a gun, we have every reason to believe he wasn't just worried about his own safety. I wouldn't be surprised to learn he actually used it on a law-abiding American just to take something of theirs.

Unfortunately, this is Joe Biden's ATF. While Moreno is a piece of trash, I have little reason to believe the ATF is going to do anything to him. They'd much rather plan a SWAT raid and kill people who react than just have someone in custody charged and sentenced.

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