&Quot;Illegal Immigrants&Quot;

Do undocumented immigrants in the United States not pay taxes? No, that's not true: The claim made by Elon Musk on X that "illegals in America" do not pay taxes is "absolutely false," the deputy director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank, told Lead Stories. "Undocumented immigrants pay a range of taxes at every…

Did the Texas National Guard send tanks to its southern border in January 2024? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Texas National Guard told Lead Stories they are not sending tanks to the border. Multiple posts made versions of the claim but there is no evidence to substantiate any of those posts. The claim appeared in a post…

Was the mechanism of the background check conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to screen potential gun owners changed in a way that now allows undocumented residents to buy and possess guns in the United States? No, that's not true: On December 27, 2023, the bureau, abbreviated as the ATF, categorically denied such a change. The…

Did Illinois Gov. Jay Robert "J.B." Pritzker sign a law that will allow "illegal immigrants" to become police officers and sheriffs' deputies? No, that's not true: Neither DACA recipients nor lawful permanent residents -- the two categories of noncitizens who were allowed to join law enforcement under the new law -- are in the United States as "illegal" immigrants. Unlike…

Did illegal migrants in Germany evade deportation by breaking a window and jumping out of a bus moving slowly in traffic? No, that's not true: The details of this widely circulated video are not well documented, but the video was not filmed in Germany. All indications -- from the captions on the earliest copies of the video to the registration…

Did former President Barack Obama remove half a million pedophiles from government online databases? No, that's not true: The claim refers to changes in criminal record-keeping. The Trump administration issued the memo in February 2017 that more narrowly defined a "fugitive from justice" as a person with an arrest warrant who had also fled state lines. This resulted in 500,000…

Can "illegal immigrants" be police officers in California? No, that's not true: Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that allowed non-citizens who are legally authorized to work in the U.S. to become police officers. There are no citizenship requirements to become a police officer in the state. And federal law prohibits employers from hiring immigrants who are not authorized to…

Did the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services give illegal immigrants citizenship in exchange for voting for Democrats for the rest of their lives? No, that's not true: A Homeland Security representative pointed out the satire disclaimer that can be found on the Real Raw News website and linked to an article debunking Real Raw…

Did the U.S. Army Cyber Command find evidence that immigrants lacking permanent legal status in Colorado used fraudulent state identification cards to vote for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a webpage that is known for publishing satirical, fake takes on real people and issues in U.S. news and politics. The claim…

Do 22 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, receive public benefits and vote illegally? No, that's mostly false: Two experts in public policy told Lead Stories that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States is closer to 11 million. Because they are not citizens, they cannot qualify for most public benefits and cannot vote in most…