An image purporting to show a sign somewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border promising “lots of free stuff ahead” reappears whenever it is politically expedient and circulates seemingly in perpetuity and has for years, but it still is not real. An unknown person (or people) used photo editing software to create the sign, and then passed it off as a Democratic National Committee creation.
While it is not clear where this doctored image came from, it has been in circulation for several years. It has been used by some conservative websites to satirize or criticize what they call the more lenient immigration policies of liberals, but it has also been passed off as an actual sign appearing at the southern border, either by the credulous or those hoping to fool them.
Photo editing software was used to create this image of a sign supposedly appearing at the southern border.
Again, it’s not clear who digitally altered the image. However, the original photo of the sign was taken by reporter Molly O’Toole, and it appears in a 2010 photo essay from the Latin Dispatch. The real sign appears in San Luis, Arizona and reads, “Weapons and ammunition illegal in Mexico.”
This rumor is false. There’s no sign at the U.S.-Mexico border promising “lots of free stuff ahead,” nor has there ever been a sign with such a message.