NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Conservative news satire website The Babylon Bee recently published a story about the migrant crisis in New York City with a headline that read, "Democrats complain that illegal immigrants are destroying their sanctuary cities."
The scathing headline quickly went viral online as several social media users questioned why the actual truth was being presented by the website, whose X bio says "Fake news you can trust," as a satire.
"That’s not satire. That’s a perfectly legitimate headline," said X user @/jordan_rickards in response to The Babylon Bee's post with a link to the story that garnered over 496K views on X, at the time of writing.
What did The Babylon Bee write in their article?
The Babylon Bee's satire story on the migrant crisis, published on September 11, mentioned that democratic leaders in "multiple sanctuary cities" were complaining about "undocumented immigrants destroying the very sanctuaries established for them."
The article cited alleged data from the US Customs and Border Protection, claiming that "undocumented immigrants" reportedly reached 2.7 million in 2022 and the number increased to "hundreds of millions of billions" in 2023.
The story also presented satirical quotes from democratic leaders like New York City Mayor Eric Adams, writing, "Our system is being totally overwhelmed. We are literally dying."
"I'm beginning to think supporting illegal immigration — excuse me, undocumented people of migration — was a bad idea. I mean refugees. What are we calling them again?" the satirical quote mentioned.
"I thought we were safe up here in Chicago because everyone knows immigrants can't travel," the article mentioned in another satirical quote, presenting it as a word from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
"I thought all the gun violence might help deter them, too, but apparently they find it appealing because it reminds them of home," the fake quote read.
The story further mentioned that while sanctuary cities are crumbling down to "broken heaps of refuse," Democrats are reportedly "refusing to accept responsibility for causing the immigration crisis they very clearly caused."
"Blame has been shifted to southern states, racists, and even immigrants themselves," the article noted in a mocking tone.
"Experts believe that it's only a matter of time before every sanctuary city falls, even Oakland," it added.
"At publishing time, Democrats had also complained about rising inflation while they worked to raise the minimum wage again," the satire piece concluded.
How did the internet react to The Babylon Bee's migrant crisis satire story?
While The Babylon Bee presented the migrant crisis story as a satirical article in-line with their content, many social media users took to X to claim that the website reportedly presented true information in the name of satire.
"Ah yes...I remember when The Bee used to be satire.. now it's the newspaper of record!" wrote the official account of The Jeff Katz Show.
"I can never tell... is this parody or their actual opinion?" one user mentioned.
"I thought @TheBabylonBee was satire. Did you guys change direction???" another joked.
"Wait, this isn’t satire" one pointed out, while another said, "That's not parody anymore that's reality."
One wrote, "This would be funnier if it were less true,"
While another said, "This pun wrote itself."
One tweeted, "That awkward moment when satirical news starts mirroring real-world news."
Before another added, "But this isn't satire when its true."
What are leaders actually saying about rising migrant crisis in NYC?
Amid a surge in New York City's migrant crisis, Governor Kathy Hochul said she supports Mayor Adams' push to end the age-old "right to shelter" law.
She reportedly told CNN on Wednesday, September 20, that the rule was never meant to "house literally the entire world," the New York Post reported.
"That is the right thing to do. The original premise behind the right to shelter was, for starters, for homeless men on the streets, people experiencing aids that was [then] extended to families," Hochul explained.
"But never was it envisioned being an unlimited universal right, or obligation on the city, to house literally the entire world," she added.
She also told NY1 that granting temporary protected status and allowing work permits for thousands of Venezuelans who entered the US before July 31 was "an important first step" in attaining expedited work status for all migrants.
"We have to let people know that if you’re thinking of coming to New York, we are truly out of space," Hochul said.
"The mayor has done an extraordinary job managing this crisis situation," she added.
"We have been partners in helping him, but there must be other cities that do not have upwards of 125,000 people, over 60,000 in shelters, that can handle the volume easier in other states," the governor mentioned.
