Video of people scaling fence is from North Africa, not US-Mexico border | Fact check

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY
·2 min read
1

The claim: Post implies video shows people climbing over US border with Mexico

A May 3 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows people scaling a tall fence situated behind an additional, taller fence.

"This is what the border really looks like," reads text superimposed on the video. "I'll bet you haven't seen this on the news."

The video also displays the handle of a user who posted a version of the video on TikTok.

The post does not explicitly say the video shows the border between the U.S. and Mexico. But an array of comments show users are assuming that to be the case.

The post garnered more than 200 likes in less than a week.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks

Our rating: Missing context

The implied claim is wrong. The video shows people scaling a fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla in North Africa.

Video from North Africa, not US-Mexico border

Melilla, a Spanish city on the northern shore of Morroco's Mediterranean coast, is separated from Morocco by a double fence, according to Britannica. On March 2, 2022, roughly 2,500 migrants attempted to scale the fence and enter Melilla, the Associated Press reported.

On that day, a Spanish politician tweeted a version of the Instagram video. The caption − translated from Spanish − says it shows "the Melilla fence."A local media outlet also tweeted the video and said it showed Melilla.

Another local media outlet uploaded a version of the video to YouTube. A translation of the caption reads, "Massive jump to the fence of Melilla of 2,500 migrants."

A fence matching the one shown in the video can be seen in Google Maps images of Melilla.

Fact check: Video shows looting of Minneapolis Target store in 2020, not recent event in Philadelphia

USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The TikTok user could not be reached.

The claim was also debunked by Reuters and Associated Press.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows border in North Africa, not US border | Fact check