A massive influx of undocumented immigrants is possible in the near term

Question

The original story about the razor wire here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/22/supreme-court-remove-texas-razor-wire-mexico-border-biden has led to a number of claims like the one below:

Comments

This is a very good and relevant story. I feel bad for the people having to go through this but everything seems accurate.

Answer 1

I looked through the article posted by OpIndia and it seems like a majority of the facts in the case are true. To begin with I wanted to make sure that OpIndia was a reliable source. I went to a media bias catalog and saw that they are considered to be a right-wing media outlet. With that knowledge, I just searched up something pretty basic involving the removal of barbed wire along the border. I found that many reputable sources such as the AP Press, and PBS were also reporting on it. Within the reports from AP and PBS, there was less mention or worry of large numbers of immigrants but in the PBS article written by the Associated Press, it says "Texas officials have argued that federal agents cut the wire to help groups crossing illegally through the river before taking them in for processing". It was a little more difficult to find an extremely first-hand source as this article is based on a Supreme Court case so a majority of the reporting is first hand even from these larger news outlets. From everything that I gathered, I think it is safe to say that the wire cutting is occurring and that there will be an influx of Immigrants from that wire cutting. I also believe that even with the right-wing stance the article published by OpIndia is credible to a degree. There is no opinionated writing or ideas, the article draws from quotes and social media from Texas Governor Gregg Abbot, as well as pulling from some of these larger sources as well. 

Comments

I really appreciate your search for the truth and thorough explanation of what you have found. But where are your sources? How can I know that this is credible?

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I think you did a good job researching about this source. But I haven't found any articles or sources mentioning wire cuttings at the border. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I think you should have liked to some of the other sources you mentioned in the answer.

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I appreciate your rigorous analysis of this claim. You made sure the provided source was credible along with searching other sources using key terms. Very nicely done. But in terms of a complete fact-check, like other commenters have stated, where are the resources you used? We need to make sure that the fact-check you've provided is credible as well.

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While I agree that it is possible this claim could be true, it is a large assumption to make that a massive influx of immigrants will be entering the US before elections with no hard evidence to back it up and no reliable news sources making this same claim. Next time, before labeling something as "true" think about if it is 100% accurate, and if it not, it is possible the claim is exaggerated or misleading.

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An explanation is provided here, but no sources were provided to support your evidence. Next time, please provide links to sources, and also don't forget to tag your answer with "true," "false," or "exaggerated/misleading."

Answer 2

It is true that the Supreme Court did allow Border Patrol agents to cut the razor wire that stretches along the border in Texas. Reliable news sources like BBC, Wall Street Journal, AP News, and NBC News all reported similar information from The Guardian's article. I think the claim itself is a bit of an exaggeration – to say that there will be a massive influx of undocumented immigrants in the near future. There is no solid evidence that this will happen. Additionally, since this initial news about wire cutting at the border, Biden has announced his plans for a new bill that will heavily affect border control and immigration numbers. According to NBC News, the bill “would force DHS [Department of Homeland Security] to shut down the border if the daily average for migrant encounters reaches 5,000 over a seven-day period or if the number of crossings in a single day hits 8,500” (NBC). With this bill, Biden would have the power to essentially shut down the border if there is a massive influx of border crossings. AP News and CBS News also reported the same information. So if this bill is passed, the number of border crossings could be reduced and so no large influx of undocumented immigrants may occur. 

NBS News: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/can-biden-really-shut-border-rcna136139

CBS: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/immigration-deal-biden-senate-us-mexico-border-bill/ 

AP News: https://apnews.com/article/border-immigration-election-2182fec11fa008ec96c4202e5656d19e 

Comments

I enjoyed you searching to see if other reliable news sources were presenting the same information. I also enjoy how you explained that while the information is true the headline is a bit exaggeratory. Rounding off your fact check with the new bill that Biden recently signed helps be understand how this situation works and what is most current. Good job!

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I liked how you included the information on Biden's plan for a new bill as a way to counteract the claim. I also agree that the claim is exaggerated, and I like how you cited all your sources to back up your reasoning. Well done.

Answer 3

While the claim that the Supreme Court is allowing border patrol to cut wire on the Texas border is true, the claim that a "massive influx of immigrants possible before elections" seems to be an exaggerated conclusion made by the OpIndia staff that wrote this article. First, multiple reliable news sources such as the The Guardian, AP News, NBC, and the BBC have reported on the Supreme Court ruling, so the ruling can be deemed true. However, none of these articles come to the conclusion that this is going to lead to a massive influx of immigrants, even though this claim is possible. Next, a red flag is that this article does not have a specific author that fact checkers can research, it simply says it is written by OpIndia staff. The article also appears to be a bit bias and right leaning, including Tucker Carlson and Elon Musk's opinions against the Supreme Court ruling. It also does not say anything about this ruling leading to an influx in immigrants. While it does provide a quote from Greg Abbot about how 6 million illegal immigrants have entered the US from the southern border in the last 3 years, it says nothing about how this ruling will lead to a "massive influx of immigrants." It only includes this claim in the title.

Just to be sure, I looked up the claim to see if a large amount of illegal immigrants is expected, and could find no information on it, only information about the Supreme Court ruling. While it is very possible this claim could be accurate, there is no evidence point to it being 100% true. Therefore, I am concluding that this claim is exaggerated/ misleading and is used as a way to attract attention and clicks.

Sources: https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-immigration-texas-razor-wire-9daef6bd316211b6633ece718e505187

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-allows-border-patrol-agents-remove-razor-wire-installed-rcna132890

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68064246