What he called them · Between terms · № 105
Began claiming migrants were coming 'from prisons' and 'mental institutions and insane asylums' worldwide
“I realized they didn't want to build security. They wanted to have an open border so that people can come in from other prisons, from prisons all over the world, from mental institutions and insane asylums all over the world.”
- Said
- , Political rally, Southaven, Mississippi
- Subject
- Migrants arriving at the southern border
- Target
- Immigrants
- Topic
- Immigration
- Era
- Between terms
What happened
This is the earliest instance found in the Factba.se archive. The line became a fixture of his 2024 campaign and second term. At CPAC on March 4, 2023, he said other countries were 'emptying out their prisons, insane asylums and mental institutions.' In the final days of the 2024 race he added 'from Venezuela to the Congo.' He was still using it at 2026 midterm rallies (e.g. Vandalia, Ohio, October 3, 2026). The Factba.se search returns hundreds of instances.