It started about a week ago with a single Facebook post suggesting that United States residents living in Mexico could be at risk of deportation in retaliation for what the Trump administration has pledged to do to Mexicans living illegally in the U.S.
It then turned into an increasing number of Facebook posts from people writing in expat groups asking if they thought U.S. residents living in Mexico could be at risk of being deported. Being social media, most comments made in response to the questions served only to further confuse and scare people. Facts were not shared, but rather opinions, rumors, and mostly hateful comments.
Over this past weekend, the steady flow of Facebook posts and comments turned into a flood, with both Mexican and expat friends beginning to ask me if I had seen the rumors, if I thought any of it was true and if I was concerned that I could be deported from Mexico.
The rumors and comments were then further enflamed by a variety of posts sharing supposed quotes of President Sheinbaum saying things like “an eye for an eye…we will deport an American for every Mexican deported” or a fake headline of “Sheinbaum announces plan to begin deporting American immigrants back to the U.S.” that went viral. Today I also saw an AI-generated picture of Sheinbaum wearing a red baseball cap that reads “Make America Mexicana Again.”
To give you two more recent examples, one friend sent me a message suggesting he is concerned that violence could break out against expats by Mexicans angry over the U.S. deportations. Another friend suggested to me that the Mexican cartels might retaliate against expats for any actions taken by the US government. These opinions, when shared out of context or on social media, can easily be misinterpreted, take on a life of their own and result in a lot of misplaced fear and anxiety.
Oftentimes, opinions shared on social media end up being interpreted as facts. That is in part what is causing so many people to have stress and anxiety and so many others to completely tune out any news. It is a time for each of us to be calm, increase our fact checks and be cognizant of the potential impact of misinformation.
Fact check: Does Mexico’s president really plan to deport US citizens?
Social media is great for many things, but I personally believe that it can be extremely confusing/disturbing/unhelpful when it comes to trying to make sense of the news. Voices from respected media outlets can get drowned out by people simply trying to stir the pot and make a name for themselves by creating chaos and confusion with their opinions. Social media might feel like the best place to get the latest breaking news headlines, but it is also a source of what is likely a significant amount of opinions and incorrect or misleading information.
Even respected media outlets are increasingly publishing sensationalist and very misleading headlines. I saw examples over the weekend of “ICE agents raiding a school in Chicago” (turned out to be not true) and “Mexico refuses to accept a U.S. deportation flight” (the article went on to say it was “temporary” and that Mexico in fact “accepted a record 4 deportation flights in one day”). Both news outlets should be ashamed for deliberately publishing clickbait-type articles.
The fake news is already lying about our successful partnership with Mexico helping to make our region safe again. The truth is, four ICE flights arrived in Mexico yesterday. Two military flights were sent to Guatemala because they were filled with Guatemalans. 2000 aliens were… pic.twitter.com/xpOdCd6TMD
— Tammy Bruce (@StateDeptSpox47) January 25, 2025
Tammy Bruce is the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State led by Secretary Marco Rubio.
The news business is not an easy one, and especially these days given the torrent at which news is coming at us. The team at Mexico News Daily is totally committed to getting every story right, each and every day.
We will not publish stories for which we do not yet have the facts, and we will not mislead you with our headlines. We will not get it perfect every time, but it’s important that you know our values.
It’s equally important to remember to keep calm, fact-check, cross-check and not fall into the fear-mongering trap. Artificial intelligence will likely make this even more important going forward as confusing and misleading news and information will only become more prevalent.
Thank you for reading MND and for putting your trust in our team.
Travis Bembenek is the CEO of Mexico News Daily and has been living, working or playing in Mexico for nearly 30 years.
