Video from France falsely linked to Biden border policies
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 31, 2023 at 21:13
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Thank Biden for this," says text over one iteration of the video shared May 26, 2023 on TikTok. "Migrants laying road blocks and attacking a truck at night. This is what the Democrat party voted for."
The post is one of several that have shared the clip alongside text or imagery suggesting it depicts the US border under President Joe Biden, whose administration lifted Title 42 on May 11. Former president Donald Trump had instituted the program to swiftly expel people trying to enter the country during the Covid-19 emergency.
The video also circulated on other platforms. But the footage is almost seven years old and was captured near the Eurotunnel in Calais, France -- more than 5,000 miles (8,000 kms) from the US border with Mexico.
A reverse image search surfaced the footage in a September 20, 2016 YouTube video (archived here) from Der Spiegel, a German news site.
Der Spiegel credited the dashcam recording, dated September 6, 2016, to Polish truck driver Miroslaw Ferenc.
The outlet reported that Ferenc was driving toward the port of Calais before the Eurotunnel when migrants laid branches across the road in an attempt to slow his vehicle, cling to it and ride to the United Kingdom.
Using geographic coordinates displayed in the upper left-hand corner of the dashcam footage, AFP confirmed the video misrepresented online was filmed in Calais.
Google Maps Street View imagery from the location in 2016 (archived here and here) appears to match the road seen in the footage.
AFP has reported on similar incidents involving European truck drivers near Calais, where migrants have previously gathered in large encampments.
In the United States, many migrants turned themselves in ahead of Title 42's lapse. Some made last-minute efforts to cross the border before the return of Title 8, a decades-old policy that allows people to seek asylum but includes harsh penalties for those caught trying to enter the country illegally.
US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said three days after the policy shift that officials' encounters with undocumented migrants dropped after the change took effect.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about Title 42's expiration here, here, here and here.
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