Video shows Colombia toll plaza, not migrants crossing US-Mexico border | Fact check

Chris Mueller, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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The claim: Video shows trucks crossing the US-Mexico border

A Dec. 29, 2023, Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows large trucks and other vehicles driving through toll gates without stopping.

"It's Now Being Reported That Trucks Filled With Illegal Immigrants Are Just Smashing Straight Through The US/Mexico Border In Arizona," reads the video's caption.

The video has been shared dozens of times on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, since late December.

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Our rating: False

The video is miscaptioned. It shows vehicles passing through toll booths in Colombia, not crossing the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

Video shows trucks passing tolls in Colombia

In early January, Republican lawmakers began escalating their attacks on Democrats – and specifically President Joe Biden – over the migrant crisis at the southern border.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, led more than 60 House Republicans on a tour of the southern border Jan. 3. That same day, USA TODAY reported a House committee moved forward with impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who Republicans blame for the rise in migrant crossings.

The Facebook video, though, is not recent and does not show the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Instead, it shows vehicles driving through a toll plaza in the South American country of Colombia.

The same video was posted Sept. 19 on TikTok with the location marked as Pipiral toll in Villavicencio, a city in central Colombia.

A September 2022 Google Street View of the toll plaza shows the same metal roof, traffic barriers and road markings visible in the Facebook video.

Fact check: Image of migrant caravan from 2018, not current US-Mexico border

Colombian news outlet Oriente Al Revés also posted the video Sept. 19 on Facebook with a title that, when translated, reads, "They raised the barriers at the Pipiral toll and the vehicles have passed you without paying."

The video's caption reads, "On the night of this Tuesday, September 19, protesters and users of the Vía Al Llano raised the checkpoints at the Pipiral toll and passed without paying as a symbol of discontent due to the serious mobility situations in this important road corridor."

The operator of the highway mentioned road closures and demonstrations in the area of the Pipiral toll plaza in a pair of Sept. 19 X posts.

The social media user who shared the post could not be reached for comment.

Reuters also debunked the claim.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows Colombia toll plaza, not US southern border | Fact check