Immigration

Did U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren suggest that Mollie Tibbetts' family has "to remember we need to focus on real problems like illegal immigrants not being able to see their kids"? No, that's not true: The viral meme distorted Warren's 2018 comments on the case in which an undocumented worker was charged and later convicted of the 20-year-old woman's murder. The…

Were the parents of Rep. Ilhan Omar ordered into immigration court to answer allegations that they falsified records to make them eligible for refugee status? No, that's not true: The meme spreading that claim originated on a Facebook page with a satire disclaimer and a warning that all the contents of the page are made up. The owner of the…

Are Los Angeles's massive traffic jams gone because of the mass deportations of illegal immigrants that are under way? No, that's not true: Google Maps showed lots of red and orange on Los Angeles highways, indicating clogged traffic, during the evening rush hour on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. A map screenshot purportedly of the previous evening's rush hour included in…

Does a viral video document ICE agents seizing undocumented children from foster care to deport them? No, that's not true: It's a montage of unrelated clips about alleged juvenile crimes, disorderly behavior at school and other situations with no apparent connection to immigration roundups. The video's narrator provides no dates, places, case numbers or other information to permit independent corroboration…

Does a viral video show actual incinerators being installed at the "Alligator Alcatraz" immigration detention facility in Florida? No, that's not true: The footage of large metal containers in the video was recorded in Minnesota in 2024. There are no media reports about incinerators being installed at the time of writing and a DHS spokesperson called the rumor "beyond disgusting".…

Does a video on TikTok show "Bikers on the way to California to back ICE agents" in June of 2025? No, that's not true: The video was first posted to TikTok in November 2022 -- almost three years before protesters in Los Angeles took to the streets to block aggressive ICE immigration raids. The video's original poster was documenting bikers…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump propose a bill that bans all lawful permanent residents, also known as green card holders, from re-entering the U.S., if they leave? No, that's not true: As of June 11, 2025, Lead Stories found no such bill on the website of Congress. An earlier June 2025 White House proclamation about new travel restrictions did not…

Did a photograph shared widely in June 2025 show California's first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom shopping in Beverly Hills during anti-ICE protests and unrest in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: The photograph was actually taken in January 2025. After initially claiming the picture showed Siebel Newsom shopping on June 8, the Daily Mail updated its story and issued a…

Is Donald Trump's June 2025 mobilization of the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles just like President George H.W. Bush's 1992 decision to mobilize the National Guard during riots in Los Angeles? No, that's not true: In 1992, both Gov. Pete Wilson and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley asked the President for National Guard to stop riots in Los…

Did a photo of troops sleeping on a floor, shared amid President Donald Trump's deployment of the National Guard in California in June 2025, in fact date to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021? No, that's not true: the AI chatbot ChatGPT made a mistake in identifying the photo as having first been published on a U.S. military website…