During several campaign rallies this year, Donald Trump denounced the political practice of asylum—namely, the legal status requested by foreigners fleeing political persecution and violence and entering the United States via a port of entry.
Yet, Trump frequently coupled his criticisms of asylum with unrelated comments about mental institutions, creating confusion about his understanding of the issue. In front of a New Jersey crowd in May, Trump claimed that "the mental institution population is down because they're taking people from insane asylums [in foreign countries]" and sending them to the United States.
