Here Is Some Of The Misinformation Going Around About The Caravan Of Migrants

More than 1,000 people from Central America are walking in a caravan through Mexico to the United States.

More than 1,000 people from Central America are walking in a caravan through Mexico to the United States. The majority are from Honduras and have been traveling in the caravan for over a week.

Adolfo Flores @aflores

This morning the caravan, anticipating a long day walk, got up at 4am to beat the sun.

01:12 PM - 30 Mar 2018

BuzzFeed News' Adolfo Flores is documenting the group's trip and reports that approximately one-third of the migrants plan to stay in Mexico and two-thirds intend to either cross the US–Mexico border illegally or to seek asylum upon arrival.

On Sunday, the group was in Matías Romero, Oaxaca, approximately 840 miles from the border.

On Sunday morning, Fox News' Fox & Friends ran a segment on the caravan, and President Donald Trump tweeted about "caravans coming." Meanwhile, the hashtag #StopTheCaravan has been picking up steam on Twitter since late last week.

Of course, hoaxes and misinformation are also spreading:

1. That the people in the caravan want to take advantage of DACA.

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

Border Patrol Agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. “Caravans” coming. Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!

01:56 PM - 01 Apr 2018

On Sunday, President Trump tweeted about "'Caravans' coming" and added: "NO MORE DACA DEAL."

Republicans and Democrats have long been arguing over a deal regarding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (otherwise known as the DREAM Act), which Trump tried to end last year, but which federal courts have so far upheld.

Half an hour later he added: "These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA."

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!

02:28 PM - 01 Apr 2018

No one in the caravan would qualify for DACA, which applies specifically to people who were children when they arrived undocumented in the United States, and who have lived in the US since 2007.

Even though there are children who are traveling in the caravan, they would not be eligible for DACA.

After Trump's tweets, marchers told BuzzFeed News that they weren't coming because of DACA.

Adolfo Flores @aflores

I asked some of the migrants on the caravan what they thought about Trump saying they were going to the US for DACA. Some laughed and others said they thought (correctly) they wouldn’t qualify.

07:00 PM - 01 Apr 2018

2. That the people coming are "Democrat voters."

Twitter

Only US citizens can vote in US elections, so it'd be impossible for any undocumented person or asylum-seeker from the caravan to vote in a US election until they became a citizen.

3. That caravan organizers are "communists."

Twitter

The caravan is being led by Pueblos Sin Fronteras ("People Without Borders"), a volunteer migrant advocacy group that has no known political affiliation.

On its website, Pueblos Sin Fronteras describes itself as a "collective of friends who decided to be in permanent solidarity with displaced peoples. We accompany migrants and refugees in their journey of hope, and together demand our human rights. We provide humanitarian aid to migrants and refugees on the move."

Some of the slogans the crowd has chanted are identified with leftist political beliefs and opponents of Honduras' right-of-center president. But the chants are also common throughout Latin America and much of the world, so assigning a political ideology on such evidence is precarious.

4. That footage from a 2013 border protest is related to the caravan.

Twitter

Several accounts are sharing screengrabs and video from a 2013 clash between border patrol agents and migrants on the US–Mexico border without noting the footage was from five years ago. People are tweeting that the attack was a "dry run," trying to link the 2013 clash with this week's caravan.