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.

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.

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.

Download our one-page explainer that details what the administration is doing, it’s impact, and the ways to get involved.

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.

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.

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.”