“[The government] fails to protect our magnificent, law-abiding American citizens but provides sanctuary and protection for dangerous criminals, many from prisons and mental institutions, that have illegally entered our country from all over the world.”

Repeated across inauguration, joint session, and CNN year-end review listing

There is no evidence for this claim, and Trump's own campaign and administration have repeatedly failed to produce any. When PolitiFact, CNN, and FactCheck.org pressed for documentation, neither Trump's team nor the government could cite a single record showing foreign nations systematically emptied prisons or mental institutions into U.S. migration flows. PolitiFact rated the related claim that 'millions' came this way as 'Pants on Fire,' its most severe falsehood rating.

The foreign governments named have flatly denied it. The founder and director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence stated there is no evidence the Venezuelan government is emptying its prisons or mental health institutions to send people abroad. Trump's campaign was repeatedly unable to corroborate even the anecdotal version of the story, including a supposed 'no-longer-busy doctor' at a South American mental facility that investigators could never locate.

Independent research also undercuts the underlying smear that migration drove a crime wave. The Marshall Project's multi-city analysis found no link between the arrival of migrants and crime rates in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Denver. The 'prisons and mental institutions' line echoes rhetoric Trump first used about the 1980 Mariel boatlift and has recycled for years without ever supplying proof.

"We have no evidence that the Venezuelan government is emptying its prisons or mental health institutions to send them outside the country." — Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, founder and director (via CNN)