FACT CHECK

No, Biden didn't announce tax breaks for housing migrants; claim is stolen satire | Fact check

Chris Mueller
USA TODAY

The claim: Biden announced tax incentives for families willing to shelter migrants in exchange for labor

A Feb. 18 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows President Joe Biden speaking from behind a lectern.

"Just in: President Biden announces tax incentives for families willing to take in slav– migrants in a new 'Housing for Labor' initiative," reads the post. "'You can now apply to keep a migrant in your home in exchange for cooking, cleaning, picking crops and landscaping.'"

The post was liked more than 2,500 times in three days.

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Our rating: False

The claim originated in a post by an account on X, formerly Twitter, that labels itself as satire. There is no evidence Biden announced such tax incentives.

Claim originated from satirical X account

There are no credible reports of Biden announcing tax incentives for people willing to shelter migrants, nor is anything similar mentioned in recent statements released by the White House or IRS.

The claim originated in a Feb. 16post on X by an account called "U.S. Ministry of Truth," which describes itself as satire in its bio. The post cites the IRS's X account, but there is no mention of such tax incentives in the agency's posts.

The Instagram post is an example of what could be called "stolen satire," where posts originally written and presented as satire are captured and reposted in a way that makes them appear to be legitimate. As a result, readers of the second-generation post are misled, which is what happened here.

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Biden hasn't announced any tax incentives similar to what the Instagram post describes, but he is reportedly considering new executive action related to migration at the U.S. southern border. A bill that would have overhauled the country's border and immigration policies was narrowly defeated in the Senate in early February.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

PolitiFact also debunked the claim.

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