EL PASO – Disinformation about “open border” policies is helping spur a massive wave of Central American migrants to take the perilous journey north to the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a poll by America’s Voice, a national advocacy group pushing for immigration reform.
The poll, obtained by The Dallas Morning News, indicates many Central American residents are encouraged to travel up to the U.S.-Mexico border based on false narratives.
About 8 in 10 Central Americans surveyed said they have heard, read or seen what is happening at the border, according to the poll, and about two-thirds said they have heard or read about U.S. asylum policies.
Meanwhile, 1 in 4 Central American respondents said they have heard the “border is open,” and nearly 1 in 5 respondents said they believed the term “open borders” — and believed most migrants can apply for asylum if they make the trip.
Under new U.S. immigration rules established in May, the main legal pathway for migrants on the border to seek asylum is through a mobile app called CBP One. For migrants who cross illegally, it’s much harder to get asylum.
“Our borders are not open,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas when he announced the launch of the mobile app. “People who cross our border unlawfully and without a legal basis to remain will be promptly processed and removed,”
Homeland Security said last week the number of people expelled from the U.S. has increased. Since May 12, the agency said it has removed 253,000 people, up from 180,000 removed during the same period in 2019.
The disinformation originates with politicians and conservative media, according to BSP Research, which conducted the poll of 600 randomly selected Central Americans in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador from July 21-31. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus 4%. The poll focused largely on people ages 16 to 39, the primary age range of migrants.
‘Open borders’
Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group that did research for America’s Voice, used a video database to track the use of the term “open borders.” The research found Fox News mentioned “open borders” 3,842 times from Nov. 1, 2020, through Aug. 22, 2023. Newsmax mentioned “open borders” 3,257 times during the same period, according to Media Matters for America.
Human smugglers amplify the “open border” message to lure vulnerable people already facing corrupt governments, political instability and economies ravaged by a pandemic and climate change, said Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based America’s Voice.
“These words by politicians and the message of open borders are being consumed throughout the region, and used by smugglers who are trying to prey on people’s desperation,” said Cárdenas. “Politicians need to realize that words matter, and by spreading disinformation for political gain, they’re actually making the problem worse.”
Mark Krikorian, executive director at the Center for Immigration Studies, criticized the poll, calling it “a distorted point of view that doesn’t get to the whole point.” The center, based in Washington, D.C., supports tighter controls on immigration and is critical of policies from President Joe Biden’s administration.
“What’s more persuasive, something a Republican politician said on Fox News? Or a selfie of a neighbor from the same town in Central America who was released by the Border Patrol and went and joined his uncle in Chicago? Obviously, the second,” Krikorian said.
A 2023 study by the Center for Immigration Studies stated that, during the Biden administration, more than 2 million migrants encountered by Customs and Border Protection at the Southwest border were released into the U.S. with notice-to-appear court dates.
Last week, the Biden administration said it would allow an estimated 472,000 Venezuelans already in the U.S. to live and work legally in the country for 18 months — an approach that critics say gives migrants an incentive to risk the border crossing.
Republicans have long accused Biden of supporting policies that are too welcoming, or sending contradictory messages toward migrants, which has led to historic migrant flows at the southern border. Republicans have also criticized the administration for not doing enough to help secure the U.S. borders.
Andrew Selee, president of the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan group that seeks to improve immigration through fact-based research, said the issue around migrants isn’t black and white.
“People have pretty good information about what is going on at the border, and it is distorted by conservative politicians [and] media outlets and by smugglers, yet their understanding is not completely off from reality,” he said.
“They’re not getting all their information from those outlets, but it’s one more element that helps distort facts on the ground. …” he said. “What’s most important is what people hear from family and friends who have already traveled to the border.”
The poll comes amid the latest surge of migrants putting communities on both sides of the border, including in El Paso, at a breaking point, with more than 2,000 people arriving per day and thousands more expected, El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said in a news conference on Saturday. He said the migrant numbers are exceeding shelter capacity and straining resources.
Increase in arrests
In August, the U.S. Border Patrol made 181,509 arrests at the Mexican border, up 37% from July. The number of arrests is about the same as in August 2022 and below the high of more than 220,000 in December, according to Customs and Border Protection.
Matt A. Barreto, president and founding partner of Los Angeles-based BSP Research, said this is the first time a scientific survey establishes clear statistical evidence that exposure to misinformation leads migrants to form a mindset of “let’s go for it.”
“Is the open border message seeping in, and when it seeps in, how do people react? What do they do? Here we see clear results: They go north,” said Barreto, a UCLA political science professor and specialist in Chicano and Central American issues. His firm has done past polling for Democrats.
“There are two overriding findings, in my view,” he said. “Number one, there is broad exposure to misinformation about the border in Central America. And number two, when Central Americans are exposed to words that the ‘border is open,’ or ‘Biden has an open border policy,’” there’s increased interest in making the trip north.
Last week, Landon Hutchens, a spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection, called on smugglers to stop what he called a “misinformation campaign” spread through social media, targeting vulnerable migrants.
“We remain vigilant and expect to see fluctuations, knowing that smugglers continue to use misinformation,” Hutchens said. “CBP is executing our operational plans and working to decompress areas along the southwest border.”
