Latest news with #green card
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Texas sheriff didn't promise to help Mexican rescuers get green cards
Claim: In mid-July 2025, Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha said he would apply for a green card for the Mexican rescue team that saved his family during deadly Texas flooding.. Rating: In mid-July 2025, numerous videos spread on social media claiming that Kerr County Sheriff Larry L. Leitha announced that he would apply for green cards — a step toward becoming naturalized U.S. citizens — for a Mexican rescue team that saved his family during the Texas floods. One such video appeared on X (archived) in the style of a breaking news bulletin. It had amassed more than 824,000 views as of this writing. The text on the footage read, "BREAKING NEWS," and stated: "Kerr County Sheriff Larry Leda said he would apply for a green card for the Mexican rescue team that saved his family." The X post's caption read: Maybe, just maybe, all is not lost… Kerr County Sheriff Leda—best known for targeting immigrants—just announced he's applying for green cards for the Mexican rescue team that saved his family. The irony writes itself. Maybe the regime should take notes: immigrants save lives. Your cruelty doesn't. Similar versions of the video appeared on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, often showing clips of Leitha speaking at a news conference (see screenshot below). (Google search results) However, there was no evidence that Leitha ever made such a statement. No official press releases from the Kerr County Sheriff's Office mention any such promise and no reputable news outlets reported on Leitha making such an announcement. Recordings and transcripts of his public appearances do not reference green cards and Mexican rescue teams. Additionally, the narration and voice-over in the videos sharing the claim appear to have been generated using artificial intelligence software. Therefore, we have rated this claim as false. There were several indicators that the videos were spreading a false narrative. One sign was the repeated misnaming of the sheriff, which would likely not happen on a bulletin by a reputable news media outlet. Leitha was incorrectly referred to as "Leda" and "Lida" in all of the above videos, whereas his actual name is Larry L. Leitha. The narration, which was also used in all the videos but in some instances featured the start being cut off, also displayed signs of being AI-generated. The pacing was often unnatural and the speaker's intonation was inconsistent. When analyzed with Resemble AI, a deepfake detection tool, the narration was identified as "Fake." (Resemble AI) Most videos started with a sentence that did not make sense: "Kerr County Sheriff Larry Lyda says to apply for a green card for the Mexican rescue team that rescued his family and that they will not be restricted from entering or exiting the U.S. border in the future." Likewise, the videos all featured a sentence near the end that was incoherent: "Sheriff Lida could no longer look at his neighbors across the river the way that he used to that human life has no nationality about a people the Mexican people." The videos also repeated a claim that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum personally sent specialized rescue teams to Texas (emphasis ours): The sheriff's daughter and two young grandchildren were tragically trapped, and when the local rescue effort was overwhelmed, a specialized rescue team, sent by the president of Mexico, marched across the border to help. Snopes previously addressed that specific rumor, explaining that there was no evidence such an intervention occurred. During a July 7 news conference, Sheinbaum clarified that the aid came from volunteer firefighters in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, who traveled to Texas independently. Additionally, Google search results produced no credible evidence that Leitha made any public statements about issuing Mexican rescuers green cards in connection to the floods or his family being affected (archived). Neither of the July 5 and July 9 news conferences, nor other briefings published online, contained any statements resembling the claim in the social media videos. Likewise, the C-SPAN transcript of the July 9 news briefing also showed that Leitha did not discuss green cards and Mexican nationals or any related topics. Similarly, the Kerr County Sheriff's Office website contained no evidence suggesting the claim was true. If Leitha had publicly announced such an unprecedented promise to help a Mexican rescue team obtain green cards, it would have been widely reported by credible news outlets. However, this was not the case (archived). Fact-checking outlets Lead Stories and PolitiFact also debunked this rumor. Lead Stories noted that the narration said the Mexican rescue team "marched across the border to help" and that Leitha described them as "his neighbors across the river," despite Kerr County being more than 80 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, which would have required a multiday march. Snopes has fact-checked numerous claims about the Texas floods. For example, we looked into a video that allegedly showed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott saying: "I support ICE deporting the Mexicans who helped during the floods." We also debunked a rumor that U.S. President Donald Trump said that he hoped "the dead are immigrants, not Americans." - YouTube. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. ---. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. ---. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. About the Kerr County Sheriff's Office. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. Briceño, Maria. "No, Texas Sheriff Is Not Giving Green Cards to Mexican Rescu." @politifact, Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. Fact Check: FAKE "Sheriff Larry Leda Applying For Green Card For Mexican Rescue Team" Video Misspells Name -- No Media Reports | Lead Stories. 13 Jul. 2025, Ibrahim, Nur. "Trump Didn't Say He Hoped Texas Flood Victims Were Immigrants." Snopes, 14 Jul. 2025, Latest News. Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. Texas Officials Brief on Flooding in Kerrville | Video | Accessed 15 Jul. 2025. Wrona, Aleksandra. "Clarifying Claim ICE Deported Mexican Rescue Workers Who Helped in Texas Floods." Snopes, 14 Jul. 2025, ---. "Did Mexican President Send Rescue Teams to Texas after Deadly Flooding?" Snopes, 9 Jul. 2025,
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘A privilege, not a right': Trump administration puts green card holders on notice
Are you traveling abroad with a green card as a guarantee of your re-entry into the United States? Customs and Border Protection (CBP) warns that you may experience difficulty entering under certain circumstances. The Trump Administration's new immigration policies include stricter screening of those entering the country through any port of entry, including those with legal permanent resident status. The CBP published a strongly-worded message on social media Tuesday detailing the current conditions for green card holders returning to the United States. 'Having a criminal record does not make you an honorable legal permanent resident. Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right,' warns the CBP post. The agency notes that the United States government, 'under the laws of our nation,' has the authority to revoke green cards if laws are violated or abused. 'In addition to immigration removal proceedings, lawful permanent residents who present themselves at a U.S. port of entry with prior criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention,' the notice states. The warning is similar to previous messages directed at visa holders, in which federal agencies emphasize that immigration benefits can be revoked, which could lead to deportation. Under the Trump administration, foreigners have been deported even for minor offenses such as driving under the influence (DWI), according to official reports. This informational offensive by the administration includes various federal agencies, including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which has also issued statements about stricter rules for granting immigration benefits, including permanent residency. The warnings also extend to international travelers entering through the Visa Waiver Program with ESTA electronic authorization, who could also face penalties if they violate the program's conditions.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Hampshire Dad of 5 Reverses Trump Support After He's Denied Entry to U.S.
A New Hampshire dad of five has reneged on his support for President Donald Trump after he was denied entry to the United States and allegedly 'treated like a criminal' by border agents. Chris Landry, 46, is a Canadian national who has lived in New Hampshire since he was a toddler. He said he has visited his home country annually without issue for decades, but things changed for the worse on Sunday. That's when Landry was informed at a Maine border crossing—on his way home from a family vacation with three of his children—that his green card had been revoked and that he would be arrested if he tried to return home without permission. 'I was definitely all for 'Make America Great Again' and having a strong, unified country and a bright future for my five American children, but now I feel a little differently,' he told NBC Boston. 'I've been torn from my family. My life has been disregarded completely.' Landry was detained for three hours at the port of entry in Houlton, Maine, and was questioned about decades-old charges for marijuana possession and driving under a suspended license. He told NBC Boston that he was convicted of those charges in 2004 and 2007 and paid fines for both. He said that he received a suspended 60-day prison sentence for each charge and has not had any other run-ins with the law. That did not stop border agents from treating him like a criminal, he said. 'I never expected that I wouldn't be able to go back home,' he told WMUR. 'It was scary. I felt like I was being treated like a criminal.' Landry told the Daily Beast he was too busy for an immediate interview when reached by phone. Landry said he blames the sudden change in his legal status—he has had a green card since 1981—even in the aftermath of his convictions, on the White House. Asked why his misdemeanor convictions had only become a problem decades later, he said, 'Because of the new administration and their new policies.' U.S. Customs and Border Protection, overseen by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, defended its decision to deny Landry re-entry in a statement on Thursday. 'Possessing a green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation's laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused,' it said. 'Lawful Permanent Residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with previous criminal convictions may be subject to mandatory detention and/or may be asked to provide additional documentation to be set up for an immigration hearing.' A Facebook page for Landry includes dozens of photos of him fishing and wearing Boston Bruins gear. His 'cover photo,' posted on Nov. 6, a day after Trump's election win, depicts a red wave towering over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Landry's case is similar to that of Kasper Eriksen, a father of four in Mississippi who made social media posts in support of Trump but has been hurt by his administration's crackdown on immigrants. Eriksen has not been accused of any crime but was abruptly arrested at a naturalization interview in Tennessee. He has been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for months, stemming from a missed paperwork deadline over a decade old. Landry, a manufacturing worker, says he is staying with his family in New Brunswick, Canada, until he can figure out his next steps, but he fears he will never be able to live in the U.S. with his children again. He said he hopes to plead with an immigration judge to allow him to return. 'A misdemeanor shouldn't be a deciding factor on the rest of my life,' he told the Keene Sentinel.
