Fake News, Real Fear: How Immigration Raids Rumors Sparked Panic During LA Wildfires
The undocumented community is clearly concerned as a new Trump administration gets ready to take power. President-elect Donald Trump has made it clear that he wants to focus on mass deportations. He has promised to do so regardless of the economic impact and the trauma in communities across the country.
These fears were stoked by the Los Angeles wildfires, which continued to burn in Altadena and the Pacific Palisades. With the news of immigration raids in the Central Valley of California, specifically in Kern County, misinformation spread on social media that immigration raids were happening in LA in tandem with the wildfires.
Yes, there were immigration raids during the LA wildfires, but they were not in LA
The fear of mass deportations and immigration raids is not unfounded. The threat of tearing families and communities apart is a main fixture of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration. There have been promises from both the president-elect and his incoming cabinet choices to start mass deportations on day one of the new administration.
With immigration raids happening in Kern County, fear spread on social media. And false claims of immigration raids in LA circulated. According to ABC11, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents arrested 190 people. The raid has caused panic throughout the undocumented and immigrant communities, with people refusing to leave their homes even to go to work.
At the same time, false claims of immigration raids happening in LA during the wildfires set panic in communities. One of the places people claimed were subject to raids was Pasadena, near the Eaton Fire, which devastated Altadena.
While the reports were false, the fear that they created was real. This goes deeper than a fear of deportation. A threat of immigration raids during a natural disaster could have deadly consequences as some people are too afraid to evacuate for fear of arrest.
According to the LA Times, immigration officials confirmed no such raids were taking place, as the agency does not conduct raids during emergencies and disasters.
“DHS is committed to ensuring that every individual who seeks shelter, aid, or other assistance as a result of a natural disaster or emergency event is able to do so regardless of their immigration status,” read a statement to the LA Times from Alethea Smock, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson.
The disinformation is part of a larger disinformation problem in the U.S.
Meta recently announced that the social media company will eliminate fact-checking, allowing for disinformation to flow unimpeded. The decision, which users worldwide have criticized, is opening the door for what is already a national security risk to further drive the U.S. into division. We have seen disinformation influence policy in the U.S., and basing policy on disinformation is a danger to democracy.
Fact-checking is a crucial part of the right to free speech. While everyone has their own opinions, guardrails must be in place to give people context and set the record straight. We have seen the violence and hate that this kind of unfettered disinformation can cause.
It is more important now than ever to stand against the disinformation that will flow freely from the incoming Trump administration. We saw the violent escalation in hate crimes during President-elect Trump’s first administration, and we must now be prepared to call it out as it happens again with fewer mechanisms in place to stop it.
