Have you seen claims online that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more commonly known as ICE, has been forced to shut down its tip line because 90% of the calls were about Elon Musk? The claim has gone viral on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and X. But it’s completely fake.
“BREAKING: ICE just announced it is pausing the hotline where people can call to report undocumented immigrants because 90% of the calls are from people reporting Elon Musk,” a tweet from the Halfway Post reads.
That tweet has over 8 million views on X at the time of this writing and has been spreading like wildfire to other platforms. But the Halfway Post is just a joke account, which even describes itself as “halfway true comedy and satire.”
Many people on X seem to believe it’s real because they’re not clicking through to see the account’s own description of itself as satire. And X, formerly known as Twitter before Elon Musk bought the site, no longer verifies accounts like it did previously—meaning that anyone can pay $8 per month to get a blue checkmark, boosting the account in the algorithm and giving it unearned credibility as a “news” source if people don’t inquire further.
People who see the claim on other platforms like TikTok and Instagram can be forgiven for not knowing that it’s a joke, given the fact that it would require a little more research than a simple click on the profile of the Halfway Post’s account. And weirder things have happened in recent days, given the chaos Donald Trump has unleashed since taking power on Jan. 20.
Why would this joke even work as a plausible idea? Perhaps because Musk is an immigrant to the U.S., originally from South Africa, who has admitted that he wasn’t exactly in the country legally when he came on a student visa many years ago. Video from 2014 resurfaced in 2024 showing Elon Musk’s brother, Kimball Musk, onstage with him discussing their highly questionable route into the country.
“In fact, when they did fund us, they realized that we were illegal immigrants,” Kimball said in the video from 2014 about raising money from investors.
“Well, I mean…” said Elon.
“Yes, we were,” Kimbal replied.
“I’d say it was a gray area,” Elon insisted as the crowd laughed at the absurd response.
Musk helped get Donald Trump re-elected, pouring roughly a quarter billion dollars into the effort, often spouting racist conspiracy theories about undocumented immigrants. Musk has remained intimately involved in Trump’s efforts since the fascist took power, generating endless headlines for some of his most recent demonstrations of far-right extremism, including a Nazi salute on the day Trump was inaugurated.
The Trump regime set up a new hotline for reporting “aliens” during the president’s first term, which was quickly swamped with reports of UFO sightings. But ICE still has an online tip form and phone number for reporting migrants. And while trolling the hotline was funny, the effort to harm immigrants in this country is very real. Trump announced a plan Wednesday to send 30,000 migrants to a concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay, according to NBC News.
“Most people don’t even know about it,” Trump said Wednesday. “We have 30,000 beds in Guantanamo to detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people. Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back.”
Trump made the announcement while signing the Laken Riley Act, which gives federal immigration authorities broader power to deport migrants who’ve been accused of crimes, even if they haven’t been convicted of one. The law was supported by 46 Democrats in the House and 12 Democrats in the Senate, helping get the bill passed, just one data point demonstrating that the U.S. doesn’t actually have an opposition party to resist Trump.
We’re truly entering a new era with Trump’s second term. But it’s as important as ever to get an accurate picture of the world. And while ICE really does have a hotline for reporting immigrants, 90% of the calls are almost certainly not coming in about Musk. That was something made up by people making a joke.
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English (US) ·