Immigration And U.S.

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".…

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 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…

Was TikTok influencer Khaby Lame arrested by ICE and was he "deported"? No, that's not true: A video on X making that claim showed a 220963977 A-number from ICE's detainee locator system that currently does not show any results. An ICE spokesperson said Lame was briefly "detained" on June 6, 2025 at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada…

Did the International Federation of Football (FIFA) move the World Cup 2026 from the United States because of President Trump's strict immigration policies? No, this is not true: As of June 4, 2025, FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, have not announced any changes to the hosting arrangement for the tournament, which will be held for the first time in…

Did a video shared in June 2025 show a man threatening to kill ICE agents and telling them "I'll put a bullet in y'all fucking head"? No, that's not true: The off-screen voice in fact said the ICE agents should shoot themselves, and called their actions a "God damn shame." The off-screen voice did say that U.S. citizens would "start…

Was pro-Trump Cuban activist Hector Luis Valdes Cocho detained by ICE and held for possible deportation from the United States? Yes, that's true: Valdes Cocho, who was exiled from Cuba to the U.S. in 2022 because of his political activism, was initially arrested in November 2024, on state fraud and traffic charges in Florida. ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)…

Does a social media post include an authentic photo of former New Mexico Magistrate Judge Joel Cano standing pantsless in flip-flops with Cristhian Ortega-Lopez, the Venezuelan man he is accused of hiding from U.S. immigration officials? No, that's not true: The original image, in which Cano is fully clothed, was included with documents filed March 28, 2025, in federal court…

Did the New York Times fail to mention Nascimento Blair's kidnapping conviction and prison sentence in an April 2025 article about his deportation from the United States to Jamaica? No, that's not true: the authors mentioned the conviction and 15-year sentence in detail, and in several different parts of the article. Blair was convicted of first-degree kidnapping in 2006, released…

Did U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi threaten that anyone saying "Fuck Trump" may get "15 years in El Salvador" for doing that? No, that's not true: The viral image with the supposed quote was not an authentic screenshot of Bondi's interview. In the picture circulating on social media, the contents of the lower banner were digitally replaced with a made-up…