Smugglers on TikTok: Agents say rumors are being spread about the US border online

Wednesday was certainly International Migrants Day, but the border still wasn’t open to just anyone — contrary to what was sold on social media.

The U.S. Border Patrol sent out a statement to stem the misinformation reportedly spreading on TikTok and other platforms that the U.S.-Mexico border would be open for the day that celebrates the contributions of migrants throughout the world.

“Rumors circulating on social media that areas between the ports of entry on the Southwest border will be open for migration due to International Migrants Day are patently false,” the Border Patrol said in its news release.

Coyotes, the colloquial name for those who smuggle migrants across the border, are said to be posting day-in-the-life-style TikToks advertising their services under Spanish hashtags. This is according to U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Claudio Herrera Baeza, who told the Journal that Border Patrol agents have seen open border rumors on TikTok, Instagram and Whatsapp. These posts are purported to say that crossing the border will be “easy,” Herrera Baeza said, despite the 176 crossing deaths reported in the stretch of border near El Paso.

The Journal found no such videos while searching under Spanish hashtags on TikTok and Instagram, nor did the Journal find groups advertising smuggling services on Whatsapp.

The Border Patrol news release advised that the El Paso stretch is “extremely dangerous” for crossings. There have been 981 rescues reported in 2024 so far in this part of the borderlands, according to the release.

Despite this falsehood, Herrera Baeza said, Border Patrol has seen an increase of migrant groups gathering near the El Paso stretch leading up to Wednesday. The rumors appear to have circulated across the Southwest, beyond the El Paso sector, Herrera Baeza said.