Social media loves a good prank, and this time, the target was none other than Elon Musk. A viral joke suggesting that people report the billionaire to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) quickly took off on TikTok, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter). While it started as satire, the hoax spiraled out of control, with some even believing that ICE was forced to shut down its hotline due to the overwhelming number of calls.
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How the Internet Turned a Joke into a Viral Hoax
The trend gained traction after comedian Demetrius Fields shared a sketch on TikTok, racking up nearly 11 million views. In the video, he pretends to call ICE, claiming he’s about to report his “first undocumented immigrant”—only to reveal that he’s talking about Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa and later became a U.S. citizen in 2002.
The idea behind the joke? Musk allegedly worked in the U.S. illegally in the 1990s, according to past investigations by The Washington Post. That was enough for the internet to run wild with the idea that he could technically be reported to immigration authorities.
But what started as satirical content quickly took a turn. By late January, posts flooded Facebook, Reddit, and X, falsely claiming that ICE had to shut down its hotline because 90% of the calls were people reporting Musk. The claim spread like wildfire, with social media users celebrating what they thought was an epic troll.
Fact-Check: Did ICE Really Shut Down Its Hotline?
The short answer? No, it never happened.
Despite the viral claims, fact-checking site Snopes quickly debunked the rumor. The post that started it all came from The Halfway Post, a well-known satirical account notorious for spreading deliberately false but humorous stories.
Snopes further pointed out that the ICE hotline hoax actually dates back to 2017, when a similar claim went viral during Donald Trump’s presidency. At the time, there was public outrage over new immigration policies, and people were mockingly flooding ICE with false reports to protest the administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants.
Social Media’s Role in Spreading Misinformation
While the joke was never meant to be taken seriously, it didn’t stop thousands of users from reposting and amplifying the false claim. TikTok videos, memes, and tweets further fueled the misinformation, leading many users to believe that ICE was genuinely overwhelmed by Musk-related reports.
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One viral comment read: “This is the funniest thing to happen in 2025 so far.” Another user joked, “I hope this makes people realize how ridiculous it is to waste taxpayer money on anonymous immigration hotlines.”
Despite the fact-checking efforts, many TikTokers continued to share videos pushing the false narrative—some knowingly, others unaware that it was all a complete fabrication.
The Takeaway: When Satire Blurs the Line with Reality
This incident is yet another example of how a joke can easily turn into a widespread hoax in today’s digital world. Social media thrives on engagement and virality, making it easy for satire to be misinterpreted as fact.
While the idea of Musk being reported to ICE is undeniably hilarious to some, it also highlights the dangers of misinformation. Whether intentional or not, viral hoaxes like this one show how quickly fake news can spread, influencing public perception before anyone stops to fact-check.
So next time you see a too-good-to-be-true headline on social media, take a second to verify—because, as we’ve seen, not everything that goes viral is real.