‘Fake news’ debunked
Social media rumors about deportation checkpoints are a hoax, authorities say.
Law enforcement authorities are warning about social media hoaxes falsely claiming that police are setting up checkpoints aimed at deporting people here illegally.
Police and federal immigration officials said no such checkpoints are planned. They have received questions about it from people who saw information about the checkpoints on social media.
Fontana police said they are investigating the origin of the hoaxes.
“It appears that unknown subjects are trying to create a public panic and we want our community to be assured that this is a complete hoax,” the department said in a statement. “We understand that fake news can spread quickly via social media and encourage you to always fact-check things you read or hear.”
Los Angeles Police Officer Mike Lopez said the only checkpoints this Super Bowl weekend are aimed at drunk drivers. He said law enforcement agencies set up these checkpoints every year.
Immigration groups said the claims of deportation checkpoints have unnerved some in the U.S. without proper papers. President Trump has vowed to crack down by deporting immigrants here illegally and
building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We know there will be real, definite actions coming that will affect a lot of people,” said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights. Given that, “people are going to put some more stocks in these rumors.”
His organization has heard about social media messages warning of checkpoints in San Pedro, the Inland Empire and other locations.
Cabrera said this week’s detention in airports after the Trump administration restricted travel from some Muslim-majority countries has heightened concerns.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Virginia Kice said that although the agency does run operations involving immigration enforcement, it does not create random checkpoints aimed at mass deportations.
“Rumors currently being circulated — primarily on social media — claiming the agency has set up checkpoints at multiple locations in Los Angeles, or that the agency is conducting random ‘raids,’ are completely baseless,” she said. “The agency is working diligently to address these false reports, and we urge the media not to give them credence. It only encourages ill-informed people to act irresponsibly.”
The American Civil Liberties Union maintains that Border Patrol agents are supposed to operate within 100 miles of the nation’s borders. In the past, the agency has rejected that idea.