Fact-checking the False claim that migrants tried ‘to hijack 2 school buses filled with children’

In the thick of back-to-school season, brief disruptions to two San Diego-area school bus routes sparked misinformation on social media. 

"BREAKING: Illegal Aliens in San Diego, California, tried to hijack 2 school buses filled with children," read a screenshot of an X post reshared Aug. 29 on Instagram.

The Instagram post’s caption read, "Close the border now!" 

This post and others like it were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads.)

(Screenshot from Instagram)

Entrepreneur Elon Musk also amplified the falsehood in an X post that had more than 32 million views as of Sept. 4.

The claims trace to events Aug. 27 and 28 when groups of people approached two Jamul-Dulzura Union School District buses on Highway 94 in Dulzura, an unincorporated part of San Diego County. 

The district’s superintendent, Liz Bystedt, said in an Aug. 28 email that on Aug. 27, three men walked into the middle of Highway 94 and tried to stop a bus. The bus driver steered around the group in response.

On Aug. 28, during morning pickup, parents who were accompanying their children to the bus stop intervened when it appeared that a group of about 20 unfamiliar people intended to board the bus after students had boarded, according to the email, news reports and a district spokesperson. 

Although groups of people approached buses on two separate occasions, accounts from Jamul-Dulzura Union School District Superintendent Liz Bystedt, the San Diego County sheriff’s office and local news reports said there was no attempted hijacking.

After interviewing eyewitnesses, the sheriff’s office said in an Aug. 30 statement, "It appears that while several individuals approached the buses, there never appeared to be any intent to forcefully try to stop or enter the school buses, therefore no crime was committed." 

Featured Fact-check

X posts

stated on October 22, 2024 in posts on X

A photo shows The Atlantic published a story headlined “Trump is Literally Hitler.”

"At no point and time did anyone other than the students enter a bus, or even get close to entering a bus," the statement continued. "It is not uncommon for community volunteers and charitable organizations to provide resources in these parts of the county, some of which operate vehicles similar to school buses."

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that near the San Diego-Mexico border, migrants — including many asylum seekers — often "wait for the Border Patrol to pick them up for processing and are served by humanitarian groups while they wait." Similarly, KUSI-TV reported that the area on Highway 94 where the interactions happened is "considered a frequent site immigration nonprofits visit to provide assistance to migrants."

Cheryl Stewart, a school district spokesperson, told PolitiFact in an email that school administrators "do not know for sure" that the people involved in the bus incidents were migrants. Some news organizations reported that was the case, however. 

We contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection but did hear back by publication.

A CBP spokesperson told KFMB-TV, a local news channel, that its San Diego sector knew of "two recent events involving migrant encounters near school bus stops along Highway 94 in East County San Diego." Without giving a number, the spokesperson also said several people were "taken into custody without incident for being illegally present in the United States."

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that six migrants were detained after the Aug. 28 interaction, citing CBP. 

Stewart told PolitiFact on Sept. 3 that claims that migrants tried to hijack the buses were inaccurate and said the district had seen no evidence that any students were in danger when the incidents occurred. 

In the Aug. 30 letter to parents, the superintendent reiterated, "I want to emphasize again that the bus was neither stormed nor hijacked. No threats were made. It was simply a frightening situation because it was unfamiliar to us." 

An Instagram post said, "Illegal Aliens in San Diego, California, tried to hijack 2 school buses filled with children."

On Aug. 27 and 28, groups of people approached Jamul-Dulzura Union School District buses on Highway 94 in San Diego County. Some news reports identified the people who approached the buses as migrants.

The school district’s superintendent, the local county sheriff’s office and local news reports said it was not an attempted hijacking. The area is near the San Diego-Mexico border and migrants, including many asylum seekers, often are served by humanitarian groups they await processing by immigration officials, a local newspaper reported.

The sheriff’s office said no crime was committed and the school district superintendent said the bus was "neither stormed nor hijacked," and no threats were made.

We rate this claim False.