Immigrants

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…

Does a video from 2015 show Joe Biden pledging to open U.S. borders to "an unrelenting stream of immigration"? No, that's not true: The quote by then-Vice President Biden from a White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism was taken out of context. In reality, he was discussing America's experience as a melting pot of diverse peoples and highlighting how…

Is the U.S. government planning to order young women to enlist in the military? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, November 17, 2023, there is no plan afoot to draft women, a Defense Department spokesperson told Lead Stories. There is currently no draft -- there hasn't been since 1973 -- and the law requires that only men…

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 Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte try to "seize over 3000 farms" to "free land for immigrants" during the unsuccessful negotiations over immigration shortly before the government's collapse in July 2023? No, that's not true: The claim was first made on Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News a year before Rutte conceded that the members of his coalition couldn't reach…

Is Canada implementing a digital ID in order for their provinces to access health care and funding for citizens? No, that's not true: On February 7, 2023, the provincial premiers accepted a proposal to further fund and improve the way health care data is stored, collected, and shared. The press release on the increase of funds did not mention digital…

Were homeless veterans forced to move out from a hotel in Upstate New York so it could accommodate a "bus load of migrants" transported from New York City? No, that's not true: The supposed victims of the circumstances were not veterans -- according to their own words, they were homeless people from a local shelter recruited to act as if…