U.S. flag behind caged bars

Molly Butler / Media Matters

Research/Study Research/Study

Local officials and residents around the country keep having to debunk right-wing media hoaxes about immigrants

Written by Chloe Simon

Published

In the past month, right-wing media and the Trump campaign have pushed smears against immigrants in Alabama, Colorado, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, claiming they are abducting and eating pets, invading local communities, and taking over American cities. City and state officials — both Democrats and Republicans — as well as police departments have debunked these right-wing rumors.

There have been violent threats in the aftermath of this conservative fearmongering. For instance, Springfield, Ohio, received at least 33 bomb threats and was forced to evacuate and close city buildings out of safety concerns after the Trump campaign's and its media allies' repeated attacks on the city’s Haitian population.

Jump to section...

  • Alabama

    • Some residents in Sylacauga, Alabama, have complained about and echoed right-wing conspiracy theories about a group of “illegal immigrants” in the community, calling it an “invasion” and fearmongering about rising home costs. In August, residents began to hear rumors that a housing development in Alabama’s Talladega County was going to be occupied by “illegal immigrants.” At a local city council meeting, a resident claimed that the migrants coming in are “not like immigrants of the past,” adding, “They’re immigrants that are coming in here getting free houses, free phones, free healthcare, and not having to do a damn thing for it, because it’s like an invasion.” AL.com has reported that the homes in question “are open to anyone who can purchase one - whether they are first-time homebuyers, those wishing to upgrade, or others.” [Raw Story, 9/18/24; AL.com, 9/18/24]
    • Right-wing figures claim that “the federal government is flooding Sylacauga, Alabama with Haitian migrants,” who have “overrun” the town. There are an estimated 60 Haitian migrants in Sylacauga, a town of 12,000, who are there on an 18-month visa for work. Fox affiliate WBRC 6 News explained that these migrants “are here legally through a specific immigration program created for those in Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela called the CHNV program. Applicants must be vetted and have a sponsor who provides all humanitarian care for them while they’re in the U.S. … As for public safety, there are no issues.” [Raw Story, 9/18/24; Twitter/X, 9/23/24, 9/18/24; WBRC 6 News, 9/19/24]
    • In an interview with Fox affiliate WBRC 6 News, Republican state Attorney General Steve Marshall said that he has not heard “overarching law enforcement concerns at the moment by the presence of any immigrant community that’s here.” [WBRC 6 News, 9/19/24]
    • Town council President Tiffany Nix and member Ashton Fowler also “met with Haitian immigrants to learn about their experience and found they were in the U.S. legally.” “The people who are here today may be gone tomorrow, because they’re just searching for work,” Nix said. “The reason they’re visible now is because the work assignments they have are ended. They don’t want to be bothered. They just want to work.” [Raw Story, 9/18/24]

  • Colorado

    • Circulation of a video apparently depicting “armed gang members speaking Spanish and storming into an apartment complex” in Aurora, Colorado, sparked outrage from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and right-wing media. Trump used the video at a rally as “evidence of a worsening immigration crisis” and, during the September 10 presidential debate, he mentioned Aurora as an example of migrants “taking over the towns” and “destroying our country.” [The New Republic, 9/4/24; Twitter/X, 9/12/24]
    • Right-wing media alleged that “Venezuelan gangs” are “taking over” the city and apartment buildings. Townhall published a piece titled “A Violent Venezuelan Prison Gang Has Taken Over an American City,” which claimed that the Tren de Aragua gang has made Aurora its “base of operations” and “has seized apartment complexes and instigated a crime wave.” Conservative outlet Real America’s Voice also posted that “illegal immigrants continue to pour into our country all while Venezuelan gangs take over entire apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado.” [Townhall, 8/27/24; Twitter/X, 9/9/24]
    • Residents in one of the buildings accused of being taken over by Venezuelan gangs held a press conference to debunk that narrative. Tenant Oscar Rojas stated that the rumor is “completely false. There are good people here, families. There’s always going to be crime everywhere.” Some of the residents also said that they are now concerned about “being evicted and having no place to go.” [Denver7, 9/3/24]
    • Republican Mayor Mike Coffman, who initially promoted the story online and in media appearances, later pushed back at Trump’s claim after visiting with residents, saying, “This narrative out there is exaggerated, and it’s our responsibility to correct it.” Speaking to The New York Times, Coffman said it is his job to “not only to make sure that the city is safe, but also to protect the image of the city.” When asked about a potential Trump visit to the city, Coffman told Axios, “I'm very excited that the former president wants to visit our city to see for himself that the narrative that we are being overrun by TdA gang members is false.” [The New York Times, 9/15/24; Axios, 9/19/24]
    • Aurora’s interim police chief Heather Morris denied that there is any evidence proving a gang takeover. Morris said, “I'm not saying that there's not gang members that don't live in this community. But what we're learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex.” [NPR, 9/6/24]
    • The city of Aurora posted a lengthy rebuttal to the Venezuelan gang rumors, saying that there “has been a lot of misleading information shared about what is happening in our city.” The post criticized the media for conflating and exaggerating “incidents that are isolated to a handful of problem properties alone.” The city also pointed out that while there has been a “small Tren de Aragua (TdA) presence,” “violent crime in the city is down in nearly all crime categories.” [Twitter/X, 8/30/24]

  • Ohio

    • Right-wing media and the Trump campaign perpetuated a baseless story about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, supposedly abducting and eating pets. Right-wing media referred to these migrants as “locusts” and “weird Third World aliens” who were “eating cats and decapitating ducks.” A week later, conservative activist Christopher Rufo also alleged that he obtained video footage of African migrants in Dayton, Ohio, barbecuing a cat. [Media Matters, 9/10/24, 9/17/24]
    • Springfield City Manager Bryan Heck says there is no truth to the story. In a statement to ABC News, Heck said that “in response to recent rumors alleging criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we wish to clarify that there have been no credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.” [ABC News, 9/9/24] 
    • Dayton police have categorically denied that any group has “engaged in eating pets.” In a statement, the department wrote, “We stand by our immigrant community and there is no evidence to even remotely suggest that any group, including our immigrant community, is engaged in eating pets. Seeing politicians or other individuals use outlandish information to appeal to their constituents is disheartening.” [Twitter/X, 9/16/24] 
    • Since the rumors about migrants in Ohio started, there have been dozens of bomb threats causing school and city office closures and evacuations. [Axios, 9/18/24; NBC News, 9/16/24]

  • Pennsylvania

    • Gab CEO Andrew Torba claimed that there are “busses full of migrants being dropped off” in the town of Tunkhannock. On September 16, Torba wrote on both Gab and X (formerly Twitter) that “I’m getting reports from locals that they have spotted busses full of migrants being dropped off in Tunkhannock, PA. I can personally confirm that I’ve seen parking lots full of them at the local park near Tunkhannock,” including a photo of people in a parking lot. The post reportedly spread on social media, causing local officials to respond after they were “inundated with calls and messages” about Torba’s claims. [Media Matters, 9/18/24]
    • Local ABC News affiliate WNEP quoted the district attorney of Wyoming County, where Tunkhannock is located, saying, “If it was all true and if they were here, they have disappeared. And even if they were here, there’s no indication of anything illegal.” The district attorney had reportedly “even consulted with Homeland Security personnel who work out of his office” about the claim. [WNEP, 9/17/24; The Scranton Times-Tribune, 9/18/24]
    • Tunkhannock’s police department also debunked Torba’s claim, saying the department “has been inundated with calls and messages pertaining to” his allegations. In a Facebook statement, the department said that Torba’s post was a “political pot stir” and noted that the photo shows “a group that can be described only as people. People who are respectfully walking along the sidewalk in our town and we see no crime being committed other than the picture being taken from an electronic device while operated upon a roadway.” [Facebook, 9/17/24]