By: Rajini KG
January 10 2024
No, video doesn’t show undocumented migrants crossing US-Mexico border
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Screenshot of the social media post which carries the viral video. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
The video shows local residents in trucks protesting against the government at the Pipiral toll in Colombia on September 19, 2023.
Claim ID 569930b5
What’s the claim?
A video of trucks and other vehicles crossing a toll plaza was shared online and claimed that undocumented immigrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. An X (formerly Twitter) user shared this video (archive here) with the caption, "It's now being reported that trucks filled with illegal immigrants are just smashing straight through the southern border in Arizona." An archive of a similar post can be found here.
Screenshot of the social media post which carries the viral video. (Source: X/Facebook/Screenshot/modified by Logically Facts)
However, the claim is false. The video shows people protesting against the Colombian government over mobility issues on Vía Al Llano road.
What have we found?
Through a reverse image search, we found that the same video was posted on a Facebook page called "Oriente Al Revés," a digital media outlet from the Province of Oriente and Cundinamarca, on September 20, 2023. The video was captioned, "THEY LIFTED THE LOBBY ON THE PIPIRAL TOLL AND THE VEHICLES HAVE PASSED WITHOUT PAYING. 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 (translated from Spanish)."
Screenshot of the Oriental Al Reves video posted on September 20, 2023. (Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
Opinion Caribe, a Colombian newspaper, reports that a protest was held on the Vía al Llano highway against the government demanding support for commercial sectors affected by natural disasters and other events.
The government has placed restrictions on cargo and passenger vehicles as the road was affected by landslides and other weather conditions. Protesters in Pipiral and Guayabetal blocked the Pirpiral toll and Guayabetal city on September 19, 2023, and demanded that the restrictions for commercial vehicles be eased. El Tiempo, a Colombian news media outlet, also reported the same.
Coviandina, the administration that operates and maintains the Bogotá-Villavicencio Highway, also reported that protesters in Pipiral had blocked the toll booth on September 19.
The verdict
An unrelated video from Colombia has been misrepresented as trucks carrying undocumented migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. The video actually shows protesters on the Bogotá-Villavicencio Highway protesting travel restrictions in September 2023. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.