Video of migrants attempting to break through US-Mexico border is not recent

An old video of migrants at the US-Mexico border is being shared with misleading claims it shows a recent event.

The video, which has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, shows a large number of people push past Mexican border guards.

Social media posts include captions such as: “BREAKING: Over 1,000 migrants just breached a Mexican blockade and are now headed to the U.S. Southern Border!

“President Trump is rapidly deploying protective resources down to the border as we speak.”

But the footage does not depict a recent event at the southern US border.

The same clip was shared on Twitter in March 2023 by a Spanish language media outlet, with the caption (translated to English): “Crisis on the US border: Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants forcibly entered through an international bridge between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso, Texas.”

The attempted crossing of the Paso del Norte Bridge across the Rio Grande River was also reported by other news outlets, some of which shared video and images from different angles. 

The migrants had broken through Mexican lines seeking to enter the US, but were stopped at the American border near El Paso, Texas.

However, it is true that President Donald Trump has deployed extra resources to the border since his inauguration. He has sent 1,500 active-duty troops to the border with Mexico, and has declared an “invasion” of illegal immigration at the border a national emergency. 

Before sharing content that you see on social media, it’s important to consider whether what you are seeing is accurate and verifiable. Our guides to identifying misleading videos and images can help you do this.