US Border Crisis: Migrants Rushing Amid Tightening Immigration Policies and False Information Online

Noe Vargas, 32, has spent the past two months slowly making his way north from his home in Nicaragua by bus and motorcycle, dodging police attention and hoping to move to the United States for a better life. This photo shows a caravan of migrants walking towards the US border in Huistla, Mexico. Photo taken on January 26th (2024 Reuters/Jose Torres)

[メキシコシティ／ボゴタ ２８日 トムソン・ロイター財団] – Noe Vargas, 32, has spent the past two months slowly making his way north from his home in Nicaragua by bus and motorcycle, dodging police attention and hoping to move to the United States for a better life.

Now that they have taken refuge in a migrant camp in Mexico City, they are rushing to cross the border to the United States.

If internet rumors and rumors spread by migrant smuggling organizations are to be believed, time is running out for Varga and the hundreds of thousands of other would-be immigrants chasing the American dream.

In order to stir up anxiety, information is being posted on social media that the United States is planning a new, more stringent immigration policy, and the US presidential election in November is adding to the sense of urgency among people who wish to immigrate.

Vargas is desperately looking for people to smuggle people into the United States as soon as possible, ahead of the tightening of regulations.

Migrant camps in Mexico City are crowded with thousands of people hoping to immigrate to the United States, mainly from Central and South America. These people are preparing to apply for formal asylum or cross the border illegally.

One of them, Vargas, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation: “I heard that (former president) Trump is coming back. He’s going to start deporting people who want to immigrate, so things are going to be terrible.” He expressed his concerns about.

Those seeking to immigrate to the United States rely on rapidly changing offers from smuggling organizations and often incorrect information on social media to make important decisions.

Much of the information potential migrants see is not provided by aid groups or public institutions via Facebook and WhatsApp. At best, half of the story is true, or it’s just fiction that seems to be true.

For prospective migrants, reliable and accurate information has become as important as shelter and water. However, it is difficult to tell whether information spread online by people smugglers or criminal organizations is true or false.

Facebook, which is the most used site among would-be immigrants, claims that it prohibits content that facilitates immigration smuggling. A spokesperson for operator Meta told the Thomson Reuters Foundation: “We prohibit content or services that facilitate people smuggling on our platform and remove them as soon as we find them.”

However, experts say there is very little evidence that fake accounts are being deleted.

According to Katie Paul of the Tech Transparency Project, which demands responsibility from large platform companies to establish an environment where accurate information can be obtained, Facebook is the most used social networking site in Latin America. , has become the largest source of misinformation.

The situation in which people who are willing to do anything and accept anything to escape from the current situation are linked to unregulated platforms is giving momentum to the activities of migrant smuggling agencies and fraud groups. explained Paul.

The flow of false information online is likely to accelerate as the U.S. presidential election approaches, and will affect the decisions of would-be immigrants who have fled their home countries for a variety of reasons, including poverty, violence from criminal groups, unemployment, and climate change. It is starting to have an impact.

The U.S. presidential election and its results are reflected in information posted on social media by a migrant smuggling organization known as Coyote in Mexico, which also influences the fees they demand from prospective immigrants.

For example, in 2021, when President Biden took office, mediation organizations first advertised lies to attract applicants by falsely claiming that border controls and U.S. residence permits would be loosened under the Biden administration. On the other hand, there are reports that border controls have become stricter and smuggling has become more difficult and dangerous, meaning that people are now having to pay 10-20% more to intermediary organizations.

Paul said that the US Republican Party’s false claim that the border is empty is being passed on by media organizations as if it were fact.

As a result of this information manipulation, the number of prospective immigrants flooding into the US border has reached an all-time high under the Biden administration.

Now that it looks like Mr. Trump will be the Republican candidate in November’s presidential election, mediation organizations are calling on would-be immigrants to take immediate action. This is in direct contrast to the previous theory that if Mr. Trump were to become president again, there would be a risk of stricter border controls and an increase in deportations.

Rafael Velasquez, Mexico director of the International Rescue Committee, a refugee and immigrant aid group, warns that “outsourcing organizations will say and do anything to make more money for themselves.”

As an example, Velasquez cited a message posted on WhatsApp that read, “The US border is about to close. Run now.”

Carlos Aguilar, who worked as a farmer in Guatemala, said he hopes to come to the United States before the presidential election and join his relatives who are already living there. “If the Coyotes give me the green light, I’m ready to go, but I’m not sure what to do right now.” I hear that there are great opportunities.”

However, Velasquez said the tactics of agents and criminal organizations are to take advantage of the confusion and spread false information to frustrate potential migrants. “If you’re listening to something a coyote says and acting on it, you’re not cross-checking the information,” he stressed.

Some agencies on Facebook offer shorter but more expensive routes to the U.S. by posing as fake travel agencies, while others offer potential immigrants who have had a much easier time getting into the U.S. We are recruiting users by posting videos introducing the service.

Velazquez said it’s even harder for Haitian-born and non-Spanish-speaking immigrants to access reliable information. Afghan immigrants are said to be treated like “scams” by Mexican criminal organizations.

The Tech Transparency Project has found that Facebook has not been able to stop the spread of misleading or dangerous posts aimed at vulnerable immigration seekers.

“We are talking about a platform that is facilitating an industry-wide crime that preys on prospective immigrants, and is failing to address the harm,” Paul said. It seems like he can’t hide it.

Our code of conduct:Thomson Reuters “Principles of Trust”, opens new tab

#Angle #intermediary #organization #takes #advantage #U.S #immigrant #hopefuls #worried #moshitora #situation
2024-03-02 23:05:00