During a recent rally, President Donald Trump made claims about the Biden administration providing sanctuary for dangerous criminals who have illegally entered the US from around the world. While Trump did not explicitly mention foreign governments this time, he insinuated that migrants from prisons and mental institutions are being harbored by the current administration.
However, there is no concrete evidence to support the assertion that a significant number of migrants under the Biden administration have come from prisons or mental institutions. While it is possible that some migrants may have had such backgrounds, Trump's claims lack substantiation.
Trump has previously tried to bolster his narrative by stating that the global prison population is decreasing. Contrary to his statement, data from the World Prison Population List shows an increase in the global prison population from October 2021 to April 2024.
According to Helen Fair, a research fellow at the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research at Birkbeck, University of London, there is no evidence to suggest that any country is emptying its prisons and sending individuals to the US. Fair, who co-authored the prison population list, emphasized that her daily news searches have not yielded any support for Trump's claims.
