Starbucks ‘Dreamer Day’ hoax: Fake promo created to have undocumented immigrants arrested

Starbucks’ “Dreamer Day” promo in the US is a hoax, the coffee company said. The fake promo, which calls for 40 percent discount of any item on the menu to all undocumented Americans on Aug. 11, is just a ploy to have all those taking advantage of the promo arrested.

The objective of the promo is to have all undocumented immigrants who would come to Starbucks on the event day arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As BuzzFeed notes, the plot started on the imageboard website 4Chan last week. One member started an idea about “Undocumented Immigrant Day” at Starbucks to gather all “illegals” and alert the ICE

The post was answered by likeminded members who suggested a few tweaks – change “Undocumented Immigrant Day” to “Dreamer Day” because liberals “love” that term – and posters to go along with their plan. They appeared to have targeted Starbucks because of the company’s pro-refugees stance. Earlier this year following US President Donald Trump’s executive order to suspend the entries of Syrian refugees in the country, the coffeehouse chain announced that it would hire thousands of refugees.

The made-up poster, which has a misspelled “Frappacino,” was then posted online, with several people tweeting it and commending Starbucks for the move. However, Starbucks was quick to deny such event. The company has responded directly to users sharing the false ad.

The fake ad has prompted mixed reactions on social media. While there are some who cheered on the fake promo, calling for the removal of all undocumented immigrants from the US, there are those who call it disgusting.