Which U.S. lawmakers have alleged foreign governments are releasing prisoners, and what sources do they cite?

1. Who said it: lawmakers and high-profile repeaters

Rep. Troy Nehls publicly circulated a letter, co-signed by 13 other members of Congress, asserting that DHS had intelligence that Venezuela was deliberately releasing violent prisoners to join migration caravans bound for the U.S., and Nehls and others amplified versions of that thesis on social media and in congressional correspondence ^{[1] [6]}. Former President Donald Trump repeatedly asserted that “millions” of criminals and other dangerous people were being released overseas and arriving at the southern border, a claim counted among his public pronouncements and subject to debunking by reporters ^{[4] [7]}. Gov. Ron DeSantis echoed the Venezuela-prison claim in public remarks, repeating that Nicolás Maduro had freed prisoners and sent them to the U.S. border ^[3]. House Republicans including Rep. Steve Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer likewise made broad claims that “prisons are being emptied” or implied foreign governments were dumping criminals into the migration flow ^[5].

2. What sources were cited by these lawmakers

The congressional letter circulated by Nehls and others referenced an alleged DHS “intelligence report” and asked Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for information; that asserted DHS source is the chief documentary claim lawmakers pointed to ^{[1] [6]}. Outside of the congressional letter, the viral thread of reporting and commentary largely traces to a September 2022 Breitbart article that credited an anonymous source and claimed a DHS report found Venezuela was emptying prisons and pushing convicts toward the U.S.; fact-checkers later identified that Breitbart piece as the primary, unnamed-source origin for the narrative ^{[2] [3]}. Trump and other political figures recycled those themes in speeches and interviews, but their public statements did not cite additional, independently verifiable government documents beyond the Breitbart/anonymous-source reporting and the lawmakers’ reference to an unspecified DHS report ^{[4] [2]}.

3. What independent reporting and fact-checkers found when they traced the trail

PolitiFact and other fact-checkers searched DHS, CBP and DHS Office of Inspector General public records and found no public DHS or CBP report confirming that Venezuela or other countries were deliberately releasing prisoners and sending them to the U.S.; PolitiFact specifically noted the Breitbart story was the only source for the dramatic claim and that it cited an unnamed source ^{[6] [2]}. The Marshall Project and other outlets similarly reported there is no evidence that South American governments are systematically dumping prisoners into U.S. migration flows, while acknowledging U.S. officials have encountered migrants with criminal convictions — a distinct factual thread from the allegation of mass prisoner releases ^[4]. Independent analyses at political fact-check events also concluded there is no evidence prisons are being emptied or that foreign countries are sending prisoners en masse to the United States ^[5].

4. Alternative views, historical context and limits of available evidence

Some analysts and advocacy groups point to historical precedents — notably Cuba’s Mariel boatlift — and to geopolitical ties between governments as reasons to view the allegation as plausibly framed, even if current evidence is lacking; the Center for Immigration Studies discussed both the congressional letter and historical analogies as a way to argue why heightened vetting might be necessary, while not producing a contemporaneous government report proving systematic transfers ^[1]. Crucially, public reporting and government archives searched by fact-checkers did not turn up the DHS “intelligence report” described by lawmakers, and the existing public record relies heavily on anonymous sourcing and political statements rather than verifiable official documentation ^{[6] [2] [3]}.