In April 2024, flyers were reportedly distributed at the Resource Center Matamoros (RCM), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Mexico, instructing illegal immigrants to vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. This claim has sparked significant controversy and debate across various media outlets and fact-checking organizations.
The story was initially highlighted by The Gateway Pundit and The Oversight Project, a watchdog initiative linked to the Heritage Foundation. According to these sources, the flyers, which were discovered throughout the RCM facility, including in restrooms, contained messages urging illegal immigrants to vote for Biden once they crossed into the United States. The flyers reportedly read: “Reminder to vote for President Biden when you are in the United States. We need another four years of his term to stay open”12.
However, further investigation by fact-checking organizations such as PolitiFact and Lead Stories revealed that these flyers might not be authentic. PolitiFact noted that while the flyers appeared to use language from the RCM website, the specific instructions to vote for Biden seemed to have been added later and were inconsistent with the rest of the flyer’s language, suggesting they were fabricated using translation tools like Google Translate3. Lead Stories also pointed out that the grammatical tone of the flyer did not match the usual content from RCM, indicating possible manipulation4.
Moreover, PolitiFact emphasized that U.S. federal election laws strictly prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections. Election officials assured that voter registration systems are secure and designed to prevent non-citizen voting3.
In summary, while initial reports from conservative outlets suggested a deliberate attempt by an NGO to influence the U.S. election, further scrutiny casts doubt on the authenticity of these claims. The alleged flyers appear to be part of a broader narrative pushed by certain groups rather than a verified action by RCM45. This incident underscores the importance of critical evaluation of sources and the potential impact of misinformation in political discourse.
