Immigration

Has President Joe Biden "secretly flown 320,000 illegal immigrants from Latin American airports to 43 U.S. cities"? No, that's not true: The Biden administration called the claim "categorically false," noting it had publicly announced the immigration program in January 2023. The program includes individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The announcement stated that those granted permission to enter the…

Do Israelis get free healthcare in the United States and receive transplant organs ahead of Americans? No, that's not true: Healthcare in the United States is primarily provided through private insurance or government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. "No US government money can be applied toward medical costs for treatment of a non-US citizen," one expert told Lead Stories. The…

Did Canada recently change its passport policy to prohibit people from listing Palestine as their country of birth on their passports? No, that's not true: Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller responded to the claim on X. Miller said there have been no recent changes to the nations listed in Canada's passport application form for country of…

Was one of the Kansas City Chiefs parade shooters identified as 44-year-old Sahil Omar, an "illegal immigrant"? No, that's not true: As of this writing, law enforcement had not released the identities of three people detained in connection to the incident, nor had anyone been charged. News photos of a man detained after the shooting did not identify the man…

Is Michelle Obama running for president in 2024? No, that's not true: The former first lady has said in multiple interviews over the years that she will not run for president. Michelle Obama is not a candidate for president in 2024, according to the official list of candidates from the Federal Election Commission. The claim appeared in a video (archived…

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…

Does a viral video capture a convoy of truckers traveling to the southern border in 2024 to support Texas Governor Greg Abbott's stance on immigration? No, that's not true: The footage was posted online two years earlier. It captured truckers heading to Washington, D.C., not Texas. The story appeared in a reel (archived here) on Facebook published on January 31,…

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…

Does a video seen on X show Azerbaijani politician Movsum Samadov on the border of the United States? No, that's not true: There is no evidence this man is Samadov or that this took place on the border of the U.S. Samadov denied that he was the man seen in the video when he spoke to Eastern Europe's Radio Liberty…

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…