Cutting Health Care, Supercharging ICE
Just over a year ago, Congress passed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which massively expanded immigration enforcement in American communities by redirecting hundreds of billions of dollars to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These taxpayer dollars were originally allocated to help families afford health care and groceries. At a time when Americans face an increasing affordability crisis and struggle to pay for basic necessities like food, housing, and health care, the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress appropriated $191 billion for the Department of Homeland Security, most of it going to immigration enforcement, on a party-line vote, while cutting $911 billion from health care funding and $186 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Combined with the loss of expanded subsidies to millions of people enrolled in Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace health insurance plans and cuts to community safety programs, these cuts will devastate American families and communities. Over the last year, we have already begun to see the effects: millions of people losing health care, hospitals closing across the country, and billions poured into new immigration jails and ICE assaults on American cities.
Vera Institute of Justice: Justice in the Age of Trump
Criminal justice and immigration reform are facing unprecedented threats during the 47th presidency. From mass deportations and a more punitive approach to charging and sentencing to a weaponized Department of Justice and a constitutional showdown with the courts, Vera's researchers and policy experts are tracking this administration's actions and making meaning of the latest developments out of Washington and its impact across the country.
Democracy Forward: FOIA Lawsuit: Shedding Light on Political Interference in the Cancellation of Public Safety Grants
On October 23, 2025, Democracy Forward filed suit against the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to compel the release of public records about the Trump-Vance administration’s abrupt termination of more than $800 million in DOJ grants that supported programs on violence prevention, crime victim services, and community safety.
An Honest Conversation About Public Safety
This newsletter is about the dangerous weaponization of crime, which prevents us from both taking a hard look at why crime happens and developing serious solutions to prevent it.
Violence Prevention Issue Explainer
Download our one-page explainer that details what the administration is doing, it’s impact, and the ways to get involved.
Trump Cuts to Violence Prevention Programs Likely to Increase Deaths
ldi.upenn.edu | The Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to violence-prevention programs nationwide are likely to reverse years of progress in reducing gun violence and may lead to a surge in shootings across cities, suburbs, and rural areas, according to two leading academic experts speaking at the University of Pennsylvania.
Federal Cuts Disrupt Local Justice Programs, but Communities Push Forward
themarshallproject.org | A Marshall Project analysis of the grants terminated in late April found that more than 9% of grant descriptions mentioned phrases related to gender identity or sexual orientation and over 40% of grant descriptions mentioned ones related to race, ethnicity or immigration status.
Public safety groups face an uncertain future months after federal grant cuts
NPR.com | “Almost all the cuts were to nonprofits. Solomon, the former DOJ official, says that reveals how the Trump administration is thinking about public safety…The kind of old school thinking is that it's only police that can keep communities safe. And what we're seeing out in the field more and more is that community-based organizations work as a complement to law enforcement," she says.”