Violent crime is falling across the U.S., driven by greater investments in community infrastructure, from treatment programs to community violence intervention. 📉. If Trump was serious about safety, he wouldn't have cut funding for these vital programs.

Vera’s interactive data tool—the “ICE Detention Trends” dashboard—reveals more on ICE’s detention populations, uncovering alarming patterns. Click the link ⬇️ to track how ICE's overreach has grown over time:

What do you want to know?.

This expansion of the immigration detention system is entirely unnecessary. Not only will this cost the #UnitedStates billions of dollars, but it will also erode the nation's shared values of dignity and justice.

The United States already has the largest detention system in the world. And according to an internal planning road map obtained by @washingtonpost, ICE plans to double its capacity by the end of the year.

Right now, #NewYork is at a crossroads: continue with this unjust system of brutality or invest in real safety and accountability? The answer should be clear: advance justice and change toxic prison cultures.

Robert Brooks and Messiah Nantwi’s murders, understaffing across carceral facilities, and well-documented violence at the hands of corrections staff: New York State’s prison system is in crisis. And its culture of violence cannot be denied.

DC is safer than it’s been in decades following investments in proven public safety strategies, like community violence intervention—the very programs and services now in jeopardy because of Trump’s funding cuts. Get the facts from Vera's Insha Rahman:

Let’s break cycles of harm & build safer neighborhoods. #AB1231 is a smart, cost-effective #California bill that empowers judges to choose rehabilitation over incarceration for low-level felonies. Tell CA lawmakers to pass this crucial bill:

That's why at Vera we're working nationwide to support community-led solutions that truly make neighborhoods safer.

Governor Newsom and other California leaders warn: federal overreach and political theater don’t make communities safer. Real progress comes from investing in community programs, crisis response, and public services—not military occupations or headline-grabbing stunts.

As crime rates drop to historic lows in both DC and California, Trump continues to stoke fear for political gain, using emergency powers and tough-on-crime rhetoric to seize control and undermine local democracy.

Meanwhile, Trump slashed funding for proven public safety strategies—like community violence intervention programs—that help drive crime to historic lows in cities like LA and DC. Cutting what works shows he’s not serious about safety, just control.

Trump’s move to federalize DC’s police department and deploy the National Guard sets a dangerous precedent that’s echoed in California, with troops sent to LA against local leaders’ objections.

Everyone wants to be safe. And we deserve real solutions to prevent crime, respond to crisis, and stop violence—not Trump’s scare tactics like the ones we’re seeing in DC and California: 

States like Hawaii and California are trying a new approach to youth justice: investing in girls' freedom, instead of their incarceration. And it's working. Take a look at some of the programs working to make ending girls' incarceration a reality:

"What Trump is doing right now makes an already broken immigration system, that hasn't been updated in decades, even more cruel.". Thank you for fighting for due process, calling out cruelty, and saying what needs to be said, @RepJayapal.

Criminalizing homelessness only makes it harder for people to secure housing, find and maintain work, and access services. Investing in services that aid rather than punish is the real path to building safer, healthier communities in DC and beyond.

📢DC residents didn’t ask for this. Their leaders didn’t approve it. And there is no emergency to justify it. Trump isn’t serious about safety. He’s exploiting fear to grab power—and DC is fighting back.

The lawsuit challenges Trump’s abuse of the Home Rule Act—a law that gives DC limited self-governance. DC is uniquely vulnerable to this kind of federal overreach because it is not a state, but this fight is bigger than the capital.

DC has made safety gains by investing in community-based solutions like restorative justice—not crackdowns. Yet the Trump administration has threatened this progress by cutting funding for services that actually reduce crime, like violence intervention, health care, and housing.