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Are prisons in the Congo ‘being emptied out into’ the US?

By Tom Kertscher
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NO

Experts on prison populations told Wisconsin Watch there is no evidence that prisons in either Republic of the Congo or the Democratic Republic of the Congo are emptying their prisons, or that released prisoners from those neighboring African nations are coming en masse to the U.S.

Speaking about illegal immigration in the U.S., former President Donald Trump made the Congo claim in an April 9, 2024, interview with a Green Bay, Wisconsin, radio talk show.

Joshua Walker of the Congo Research Group at New York University said a prison in Kinshasa released 300 prisoners in March, after Trump began making this claim, but there's no evidence any came to the U.S. Helen Fair of the University of London-based Institute for Crime and Justice Policy Research agreed no evidence backs up Trump's claim.

Other fact-checkers also have debunked Trump’s claim.

Trump's campaign didn’t reply to Wisconsin Watch’s request for information.

See a full discussion of this at Wisconsin Watch
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Google Docs Helen Fair email 4/17/24
Google Docs Joshua Walker email 4/16/24
omny.fm RJS - 4/9/24 - Segment 7 - The Regular Joe Show
CNN ‘Everything he is saying isn’t true’: Congolese governments denounce Trump’s baseless stories about emptied prisons
Washington Post Trump has a bunch of new false claims. Here’s a guide.
Wisconsin Watch Are undocumented immigrants at border more apt to commit crime?
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Wisconsin Watch
Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.