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Cans of Coca-Cola are on display at a grocery market in Uniontown, Pa, April 24, 2022. (AP) Cans of Coca-Cola are on display at a grocery market in Uniontown, Pa, April 24, 2022. (AP)

Cans of Coca-Cola are on display at a grocery market in Uniontown, Pa, April 24, 2022. (AP)

Maria Briceño
By Maria Briceño February 13, 2025

The claim that Coca-Cola turned over ‘its own workers to ICE’ is unfounded

Read in Español

If Your Time is short

  • A Coca-Cola spokesperson told PolitiFact that the accusation that The Coca-Cola Co.called immigration authorities to assist in the separation of workers illegally in the U.S. is "unequivocally false."

  • We also found no reports of raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Coca-Cola factories in recent history.

  • The company gave a personalized bottle to President Donald Trump on Jan. 14 for his presidential inauguration. This has been a company tradition since 2005.

Did The Coca-Cola Co. report its workers who were illegally in the country? There is no evidence that this happened, contrary to what many social media posts said.

An Instagram post showed a man saying that the beverage company called its employees who were illegally in the U.S. into a room for a meeting and then they were "all cornered by ICE."

"Coca-Cola preaches diversity but sells out its own workers to ICE," the Feb. 7 post’s caption said. "Hardworking people tossed aside like nothing, pure corporate hypocrisy. If they cared, they’d fight for workers, not help tear families apart."

(Screenshot from Instagram post.)

Other Instagram and Threads posts made similar claims. 

These posts 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.)

Other videos in Spanish also claimed that the company’s directors had apologized to its employees affected by the supposed deportations. 

However, we found no reports in the news database, Nexis, on The Coca-Cola Co.'s social media, nor statements of apology on the company’s official website.

A Coca-Cola spokesperson told PolitiFact that the accusation that the company called immigration authorities to assist in the separation of workers illegally in the U.S. is "unequivocally false."

We also did not find any reports of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at Coca-Cola factories in recent history.

Multiple media outlets have also reported that there is no evidence that Coke called ICE on its own employees. 

Some activists have called for a "Latino freeze" movement that would boycott companies that have publicly announced plans to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Although the conservative group National Legal and Policy Center in October proposed that Coca-Cola eliminate DEI hiring incentives, the company in December alerted its shareholders it would block the proposal. Coca-Cola continues to have a DEI section on its website.

On Jan. 14, The Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey gave Trump a personalized Diet Coke bottle bearing an image of the White House on its label. The company has given a personalized bottle to presidents since 2005, regardless of their party affiliation or immigration stance. 

The first president to receive a Coca-Cola for his presidential inauguration was George W. Bush.

Because there is no evidence that Coca-Cola reported its own workers to ICE, we rate this claim False.

 

Our Sources

TikTok post, Feb. 12, 2025

TikTok post, Feb. 12, 2025

KRON4, Coca-Cola ICE raids? Company faces backlash in face of unfounded rumors, Feb. 12, 2025 

Newsweek, Coca-Cola Faces TikTok Backlash Over Alleged Latino Worker Firings, Feb. 10, 2025

Email interview with The Coca-Cola Company spokesperson, Feb. 12, 2025

NBC Bay Area, ‘Latino Freeze' grows as part of backlash against companies rolling back DEI programs, Feb. 11, 2025 

Instagram post, Feb. 7, 2025

Threads post, Feb. 8, 2025

Instagram post, Feb. 8, 2025

Wilmer Hale, The Coca-Cola Company Exclusion of Shareholder Proposal by National Legal and Policy Center, Dec. 23.2024

Exclusion of Shareholder Proposal by National Legal and Policy Center, Dec. 23.2024

X post, Jan. 14, 2025

The Coca-Cola Co., DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION, accessed Feb. 13, 2025 

Other sources included in our Spanish fact-check

Browse the Truth-O-Meter

More by Maria Briceño

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The claim that Coca-Cola turned over ‘its own workers to ICE’ is unfounded

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