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Samantha Putterman
By Samantha Putterman May 8, 2023

Image showing thousands of bridge-crossing migrants was from 2018, not 2023

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  • This image was taken in 2018, when President Donald Trump was in office. It shows Honduran migrants in Mexico on their way to the United States. 

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The looming expiration of a pandemic-era policy that border agents use to turn away migrants at the U.S’ southern border is expected to lead to an increase in people seeking asylum.

Some social media users were sharing photos and videos of migrants ahead of Title 42’s May 11 cutoff that had little to do with current events. Bernard Kerik, a former New York Police Department commissioner, shared a photo May 8 on Twitter that showed thousands of migrants crossing a bridge. 

"This invasion of the US is authorized by @JoeBiden’s @WhiteHouse and being supported by @SenSchumer @SpeakerPelosi and the @TheDemocrats @HouseDemocrats @SenateDems. Who is going to financially support these people? The American taxpayer! I don’t give a damn what party you are in, this is f------ wrong!" he wrote.

But the photo wasn’t taken in 2023. It’s from 2018, when Donald Trump was president, and shows Honduran migrants in Arriaga, Mexico, heading to the U.S.

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Agence France-Presse photographer Guillermo Arias captured the image Oct. 27, 2018. The caption read: "Aerial view of Honduran migrants heading in a caravan to the US, as they leave Arriaga on their way to San Pedro Tapanatepec, in southern Mexico."

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@politifact As Title 42 ends, an image of thousands of migrants crossing a bridge is being shared as if it were current. It was actually taken in 2018. #immigration #title42 #false #factcheck #fyp #learnontiktok ♬ Lava Lamp - Happy Trees

The people pictured were part of a large migrant caravan of more than 4,000 Central Americans who had pushed toward the U.S. border seeking asylum.

We rate social media posts claiming the photo was taken recently False.

RELATED: Title 42 expiration: What's next for migrants applying for asylum at US’ southern border? 

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