Video of frustrated migrants at US-Mexico border has no connection to Title 42 | Fact check

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·3 min read
38

The claim: Video shows 'violent caravan' heading to US border in May 2023

A May 12 Twitter video (direct link, archive link) shows a large crowd of people pushing past barricades and clashing with police.

"JUST IN: Massive violent caravan headed to the United States Border," reads the video's caption. "Will The Biden Administration do anything to stop this?"

The video was retweeted more than 4,000 times and shared on Facebook more than 300 times in five days.

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Our rating: False

The video is from March 2023, not May 2023. It shows a crowd of frustrated migrants who tried to enter the U.S. from Mexico to seek asylum.

Video shows migrants who gathered at US border in March 2023

The tweet was posted a day after the end of Title 42, a set of pandemic-related immigration restrictions that had made it easier for the U.S. to expel migrants at the southern border.

But this footage predates the policy change by two months.

The footage depicts hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants attempting to enter the U.S. from Mexico, as reported by Reuters and The Texas Tribune.

The migrants were reportedly frustrated by problems securing appointments to seek asylum using a new U.S. government app and gathered at the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez before trying to cross into the U.S.

The crowd eventually left the area after being blocked from entering the U.S. by law enforcement. However, some of the migrants made their way to the banks of the Rio Grande, where they were watched by U.S. immigration officials on the other side, according to the Reuters report.

Fact check: As Title 42 ends, post falsely claims Biden has no plan for migrants at US-Mexico border

The same series of clips shown in the Twitter video can be seen in a different order in an earlier March 12 tweet from the Mexican news outlet RED Michoacán.

Despite predictions that Title 42's expiration would lead to a surge of migrants looking to cross the border, the Associated Press reported the number of migrants encountered at the southern border dropped in the days after the restrictions ended.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Reuters also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video of migrants at US-Mexico border is from March 2023 | Fact check