Conservatives are sharing footage of what they claim shows the U.S. National Guard “trafficking” migrants across the Southern border.
The video, which came from Eagle Pass, Texas, and aired during a segment on Fox News, quickly spread across social media and was cited as proof that the administration of President Joe Biden had ordered an end to border enforcement.
“Watch the left side of your screen,” said Natalie Winters, co-host & executive editor of Steve Bannon’s War Room. “The national guardsmen puts in a ladder to help the illegals get in. WTF.”
The footage was immediately picked up by other far-right users including Laura Loomer, who pushed the conspiracy theory that Biden was attempting to replace white Americans with migrants from south of the border.
“Biden’s election strategy,” she said. “The great replacement.”
Others argued that the clip proved that the borders were “wide open,” while some accused Biden of treason.
Many placed the blame on the guardsman himself by accusing him of being a Democrat before demanding that he be brought “up on charges for dereliction of duties.”
Conspiracy theorists also bemoaned that the footage appeared to run contrary to predictions made by “Q” of the QAnon conspiracy theory. Another popular remark suggested that the National Guardsman was actually an undercover federal agent and should be hanged.
“WTAF?!? This President HAS TO GO NOW!” another frantically wrote. “This is TREASON, THEY ARE TRYING TO DESTROY OUR COUNTRY! CAN YOU SEE?!?”
But not everyone was quick to buy into the sensationalist allegation. At least one right-leaning user noted that the migrants had already at that point crossed the border.
“They’ve already entered the US at that point and by law must be taken into custody,” said Jennie Taer, an immigration reporter for the Daily Caller.
In response to questioning from the Daily Dot, a spokesperson for the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) confirmed that the National Guardsman was attempting to keep the migrants from being injured before handing them over to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“The service member lowered a ladder to migrants entangled in concertina wire to ensure their safety while enabling Border Patrol agents to assume responsibility for the migrants, reducing likelihood for injury for all involved and allowing proper processing of the migrants,” the spokesperson said. “DoD is in support of DHS, the lead federal agency, and DHS maintains responsibility for the overall well-being and support of migrants.”
Just last week the DoD announced that it would be sending 800 active-duty personnel, in addition to the 2,500 National Guard members already present, to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Officials with the Department of Homeland Security, according to CNN, have seen a significant uptick in apprehensions by Border Patrol in recent weeks. Republican lawmakers have pointed to the recent wave as evidence of the Biden administration’s failure to secure the border.
