Images show Latin American, not Indian, migrants being deported | Fact check
The claim: Images show Indian migrants who entered the US illegally being deported
A Feb. 5 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes photos of handcuffed people walking in a line and sitting in a plane.
"Handcuff & chained Indians," reads text above the images. "Indians who risked their life entering U.S. illegally are being deported back to Amrit Kal (sic)."
The post was shared more than 700 times in two days. Other versions of the claim were shared on Facebook and X.
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Our rating: False
The photos show migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Cuba in the process of being deported. They don't show Indian migrants.
Images show Latin American, not Indian, migrants
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, also known as ICE, launched a wave of raids during the first several weeks of President Donald Trump's second term as part of the administration's crackdown on immigration. The raids resulted in the deportation of more than 100 Indian migrants, according to The Associated Press.
But the images in the Facebook post don't show these migrants.
The Associated Press captured the photo of the group sitting on a bench with their feet handcuffed on Jan. 30. The picture shows migrants aboard a military aircraft in El Paso, Texas, waiting to be deported to Guatemala, according to the picture's description. The outlet also shared the image on Instagram the same day with a similar caption.
The photo of the migrants sitting in various rows inside what appears to be a military aircraft was captured by the Department of Defense at the Tucson Internation Airport on Jan. 23. Though the picture's caption doesn't specify the aircraft's destination, the local Arizona outlet ABC15 News reported that the migrants were deported to Guatemala.
Fact check: No, Mexico’s president did not make statement about ‘sending felons’ to US
Paste BN was unable to locate the photo of the handcuffed men walking in a single-file line, but the Rio Grande outlet KRGV News published a clip of the same four men in the clothes shown in the post. The clip was captured at the Hidalgo International Bridge in Texas, where migrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Cuba were handed over to Mexican officials, according to the article.
Reuters captured similar photos of the group being escorted across the bridge on Jan. 27, including the one shown below. Both pictures' captions cite the same location as the KRGV article.
"Amrit Kaal" is not a place but a Hindi phrase that means "auspicious era," according to the Associated Press. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has used the phrase to describe the country's resurgence during his term. Paste BN reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- AP, Jan. 30, Instagram post
- AP, Jan. 30, APTOPIX US Deportation Flights
- DVIDS, Jan. 23, Department of Defense augments U.S. Customs and Border Protection in removal flight efforts [Image 6 of 6]
- ABC15 News, Jan. 24, Military aircraft used to deport migrants in the country illegally from Tucson to Guatemala
- KRGV News, accessed Feb. 6, Dozens of deported migrants handed over Mexican immigration officials at Hidalgo International Bridge
- Reuters, Jan. 31, Scenes from the frontlines of Trump's immigration crackdown
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