In the months leading up to President Donald Trump’s July 28 remarks in Suffolk County, New York, where he spoke about “America’s weak border and immigration enforcement,” Fox News repeatedly reported on Long Island’s MS-13 problem, falsely attributing the gang’s growth to immigration policies and an influx of unaccompanied minors to the area. But law enforcement officials and experts agree that the key to fighting MS-13 and impeding its recruitment efforts is integrating newly arrived immigrants into the community, something that Suffolk County has historically failed to do.

Ten immigrants were killed and many others hospitalized after human traffickers promising to smuggle them into the United States failed to provide them with adequate ventilation or water for the journey. Conservative media figures have responded to the tragedy with calls for stricter immigration laws -- in particular, stricter border enforcement policies and anti-sanctuary city laws -- that experts have said would serve only to exacerbate the problem by diverting immigrants to more dangerous routes and empowering human traffickers without addressing the root causes of immigration.

Thousands of Coloradans have withdrawn their voter registrations in the wake of the Trump administration's election integrity commission’s request for personal voter data. Far-right media are claiming that the people canceling their registrations are “illegal” voters removing themselves from the rolls. In reality, deregistrations have been attributed to voters’ concerns over the confidentiality of their personal data, as well as their distrust of the Trump administration's commission.