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Another Internet immigration rumor

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In the wake of the protests in Arizona over its SB 1070, and in Los Angeles and many other cities over immigration reform, those of us who write about immigration are getting a new round of e-mails in our in-boxes.

The latest purport to show a recent incident at Montebello High School, just east of Los Angeles, in which a group of Latino students raised a Mexican flag over an upside-down Stars and Stripes on the school flagpole. One e-mail declares: ‘I predict this stunt will be the nail in the coffin of any guest-worker/amnesty plan on the table in Washington.’

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The problem with this declaration is that the incident took place not last week, but in 2006. It’s detailed here and also in a Wikipedia entry.

I got another e-mail last week with a clearly doctored photograph showing a protester in Phoenix with a sign that says: ‘We will shoot more police officers in Arizona until we get free’ healthcare and jobs.

Last year, I wrote a column that dissects the exaggerations and untruths in an e-mail that purports to list statistics reported in The Times on the impact of illegal immigration.

-- Hector Tobar

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