San Francisco Frontiers - Undocumented migrants turn to Whatsapp to stay ahead of US raids

Rosario, a 35-year-old mother of two, practically lives in hiding in the face of US President Donald Trump's sweeping campaign to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants since his return to the White House in January.

Her only lifeline is a community group on the messaging app that provides news about immigration raids in Washington neighborhoods -- often mixed with unverified or false information.

"You stay informed and stay a little more alert thanks to the group," Rosario told AFP in her studio apartment, festooned with birthday balloons, stuffed toys, and a wall hanging made from corn husk.

"That way, you get rid of fear a little bit -- but fear always persists," said the part-time dishwasher, who crossed into the United States in 2021 after an arduous journey from her home country.

Rosario, who refused to disclose her real name, peered through her window blinds for any lurking agents from ICE -- the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, which has been deployed to carry out the Trump administration's promise to target undocumented immigrants.

"Alert: ICE activity was reported at a business center on (Mount) Pleasant around noon," a message flashed in the group, adding that six masked agents were spotted in the Washington neighborhood and one person was detained.

It was not possible for Rosario to ascertain whether the tip was real or fake.

Still, she remained confident the community group, fed by other immigrants and advocates, provided reliable information -- crucial for determining her limited movements to work and to purchase groceries.

- 'Scary climate' -

Rosario also puzzled over another morsel of unverified information in the group that had not appeared in the mainstream media: that an undocumented female immigrant was detained by ICE at a school in the Bethesda neighborhood.

Immigration sweeps on educational institutions are rare, but the Trump administration has said it no longer considers sensitive locations such as schools, churches, and hospitals off-limits to agents. The policy has been legally challenged by religious organizations.

Such uncertainty and fear have spawned a flurry of rumors about suspected immigration raids and movements of ICE agents that ricochet across messaging apps and online platforms, leaving immigrant communities on edge.

In February, AFP's fact-checkers debunked a viral online video that claimed to show an undocumented Colombian woman being expelled from the United States. In reality, it was a fictionalized clip posted in 2023 by an American YouTuber.

Last month, another online video purportedly showed undocumented immigrants being arrested from a US barbershop. AFP found the video staged, with the uniforms worn by the supposed immigration officials appearing inauthentic.

"In the current scary climate, it is hard to know what's true, what's inaccurate," the director of an immigration advocacy group in Washington told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The heightened fears among immigrant communities, he added, have made it harder to "decipher fact from fiction."

- 'Fear grabs you' –

Despite an uptick in immigration arrests, authorities appear to be struggling to meet Trump's mass deportation goals.

The number of deportation flights since Trump took office on January 20 has been roughly the same as those in the final months of President Joe Biden's administration, US media reported, citing data collected by an immigration rights advocate.

That has done little to allay fears among the country's estimated 14 million undocumented immigrants.

Those concerns are aggravated by the government's shock-and-awe tactics of publicizing raids in major cities and footage of shackled migrants being loaded onto deportation flights.

Amid a lack of reliable information and fears of stepped-up raids, many undocumented immigrants have gone underground, with some even withdrawing their children from school, advocacy groups say.

Many also remain vulnerable to exploitation by their employers.

Elizabeth, an undocumented immigrant and mother of five, avoids the messaging groups filled with unverified information, choosing instead to stay vigilant and aware of her surroundings.

"If you don't know what is happening, fear grabs you," she told AFP, declining to share her real name and country of origin.

"Fear is a product of misinformation."

J.Scott--SFF