In each edition of web_crawlr we have exclusive original content every day. On Mondays our Tech Reporter Mikael Thalen debunks the most wild conspiracy theories swirling around the web in his “One Dumb Conspiracy” column. If you want to read columns like this before everyone else, subscribe to web_crawlr to get your daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
Conspiracy theorists believe that President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that provides cell phones, plane tickets, and Visa gift cards to migrants who enter the country illegally. But, as you probably guessed, the claim isn’t true.
Last Monday, Mark Lamb, the Republican Sheriff of Pinal County, Arizona, alleged that the Biden administration had begun offering a large aid package to migrants. Although Lamb made no mention of an executive order, the sheriff claimed that every migrant would receive numerous items including a $5,000 gift card.
A user on X shared the video shortly after and added that the claim that an Executive Order was to blame.
“Evil Joe Biden’s Executive Order 9066 gives illegals a $5,000 VISA card to use as they wish. Joe Biden is BUYING votes! Do you agree?”
The claim was quickly repeated by countless others across social media, who lashed out at the Biden Administration and Democrats for the alleged decision.
“Executive order 9066 is rewarding these illegals with $5,000 gift cards. I’m busting my ass just to get more in debt every month because of Bidenomics,” another X user said. “The Democrats have let me know I am DEAD LAST as an American. I will never support a Democrat or liberal after seeing what destruction they have caused in the last 3 years. What about you?”
For starters, only in some cases are migrants who do not already have a phone given one. And in those rare cases, migrants are required to download an app that allows the US government to track them while their case is being reviewed. The notion that all migrants are handed a cell phone is false.
The same goes for the other items. Migrants are not automatically handed plane tickets. And the Visa gift card claim has no basis in truth whatsoever. But what about the Executive Order?
Well, Executive Order 9066 is real. But it wasn’t signed by Biden. In fact, it was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942. The Executive Order allowed the US military to send 120,000, many of whom were Japanese American, to internment camps following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Yet despite these simple facts, the claim has gone viral. Regardless, there is no Executive Order from Biden and migrants aren’t being handed phones, plane tickets, and Visa gift cards en masse.
Why it matters
With tensions over the border and US immigration policy at a high, accurate information is more important than ever. But as we’ve learned, sensational claims travel much quicker online than the truth.
