EAGLE PASS, Texas - Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America’s Voice, penned an op-ed for The Messenger headlined, “How ‘Open Border’ Disinformation Can Actually Drive Migration to the U.S.”
The op-ed began with this paragraph: “When U.S. politicians and media spread misleading information about the state of the U.S. border, some potential migrants in Central America are hearing and actually believing it.
“Claims of ‘open borders’ are actually leading migrants to the U.S., where they find a very different reality of heightened border enforcement and detention. That’s the key takeaway from new polling and research released by my organization, America’s Voice.”
The op-ed was exclusive to The Messenger. However, America’s Voice did provide the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with additional information about the new polling.
The polling indicates that pervasive disinformation about "open borders" - including driven by U.S. right wing politicians and media - contributes to migration to the U.S.
America’s Voice points out that poll is a first-of-its-kind survey of 600 Central Americans in the prime migration age cohort living in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Among the findings, more than a quarter recalled hearing a U.S. politician say the border was open during the past six months.
“Words matter. And even more so when you are an elected official and on an issue that is as volatile as immigration and border policy,” said Cárdenas, pictured above. “When we saw migrants citing the far right media outlet Breitbart as their source for rumors that the border was open, we knew we had to look into this further.”
Cárdenas continued: “Our survey of potential migrants in Central America confirmed our suspicion. Disinformation about ‘open borders’ is one of the many factors driving Central American migration to the United States, with younger poll respondents in the prime migration cohort particularly vulnerable to believing this falsehood.”
Among the key findings in the poll, America’s Voice found that Central American residents in target countries are "highly attuned" to information about the situation in the U.S.-Mexico border as well as U.S. immigration and asylum policies.
The group said that both traditional media, such as television and radio, and also social media remain "highly used and trusted" sources of information about the U.S. border, with 87% of respondents saying they are more likely to believe what they see on television or radio and 51% believing what they see on social media sources as trusted sources of information. Among the youngest age cohort (16-24), social media was by far the most used source of information.
“We found that disinformation about the U.S.-Mexico border was widespread, with over 1 in 4 Central American respondents hearing and approximately 1 in 5 believing rhetoric that the “border is open” - 27% of respondents reported having heard a U.S. politician or official say the border is open in the past six months, while 18% of respondents believed that the border was open, including 25% of respondents in the 16-24 age group. In the context of a representative poll sample, the minority of respondents who have heard or believe the U.S. has “open borders” policies amounts to a massive number of real-life individuals,” Cárdenas said.
America's Voice says that additional research compiled and conducted on behalf of the group highlights "how right wing media and right wing politicians are consistent messengers of this 'open borders' disinformation." Research conducted via Media Matters' tracking (via a review of transcripts in the Kinetiq video database), found that Fox News mentioned ‘open borders’ 3,842 times from November 1, 2020, through August 22, 2023, while Newsmax mentioned ‘open borders’ 3,257 times during the same period.
Meanwhile, the America’s Voice ad tracking project identified 832 unique tweets from Republicans that use “open borders” rhetoric from the end of February 23, 2023 to August 18, 2023. The group also found at least 97 pieces of paid communication from GOP candidates/party entities that advance “open borders” claims in 2023.
“Many of these right wing messengers are likely spreading this fabrication for political purposes. Yet this relentless political disinformation about the state of the U.S. border filters into Central America, falls on the ears of desperate people looking for a way out and empowers smugglers and other bad actors,” Cárdenas added.
“We desperately need real and bipartisan attempts to advance solutions and unite Americans on a range of issues, including on immigration and 21st century migration, instead of continued political disinformation.”
