NECOCLÍ, Colombia — One TikTok video — it’s been viewed 17.4 million times — claims that as of Thursday, “people who arrive at the U.S. border will not be able to be deported.”In another, a man snaps his fingers and warns viewers that deportations will be “immediate.”And for the Venezuelan migrants preparing to walk the 70-mile stretch of jungle that divides South from Central America, one of the most dangerous stages of their journey to the United States, it was nearly impossible to know what to believe.With the end on Thursday of Title 42, the pandemic-era policy that the Trump and Biden administrations used to expel immigrants who entered the United States illegally, their WhatsApp and Facebook groups have been flooded with conflicting intelligence about what might await them at the border. Voice memos from family members and friends and friends-of-friends added more grist to the rumor mill.“They’re all cuentos de camino,” said migrant advocate Patricia Andrade. Literally, “road stories,” but also a Venezuelan phrase for gossip.Even with limited cellphone reception, migrants rely on these social media channels for information on their way to the United States. This week, as illegal border crossings surged, the messages were especially confusing. So
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Crossing jungle and desert, migrants navigate a sea of misinformation – The Washington Post
