We Are Safety Overview
We want safety, they want power
The federal government is shredding the programs and policies that keep communities safe while using the same tired dog whistles about crime to 1) justify seizing power from political opponents and 2) to obscure deeply unpopular policies, like gutting healthcare for millions to pay for tax cuts for billionaires’ private jets or a fancy ballroom for the Epstein Class.
The administration is shredding community safety—gutting everything from proven bipartisan violence prevention programs to victims’ services to mental health and substance use treatment. The administration began this effort by cutting over $800 million from programs which helped pull us back from the pandemic-era spike in crime. The administration even attempted to cut $2 billion worth of vital mental health and treatment grants, including from vital law enforcement partner organizations.
They have also cut Social Safety Net programs that make us safer. Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance are designed to support people before crisis turns into catastrophe. These programs are proven to reduce crime. But, they’ve been raided to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and a war in Iran that no one asked for. Millions of kids have lost healthcare or vital food assistance.
Our kids need to be healthy to be safe. From pediatric cancer research to lifesaving vaccine funding to fueling the worst measles epidemic in decades—the safety of our families and our kids is under assault by rank incompetence and cruel indifference. They’re gutting vital medical research and funneling that money into a gilded ballroom for the Epstein class. They are playing conspiratorial games with child vaccine guidance and encouraging rampant polluting data centers in our communities. It makes all of us, especially our children, less safe.
Mass deportation also makes all of us less safe. Deporting toddlers with cancer is a higher priority for this administration than solving violent crimes. DHS’ budget has ballooned to over $170 billion dollars. The agency spends hundreds of millions on TV ads, posh private jets, billions detaining nonviolent, hardworking immigrants, with a budget bigger than all other federal law enforcement combined. Yet, 93% of detained immigrants have no violent record. Detention of kids, including babies, has increased over 1000%.
They are using “crime” as a smokescreen to take power away from people they don’t like. From the costly, showy National Guard invasion of cities run by their political opponents that drained over a billion dollars from taxpayers for a political stunt to the chaotic, cruel, and dangerous ICE/CBP operations that led to multiple shootings, the administration uses public safety as a cynical political tool.
In fact, it encourages crime by political allies and wealthy donors. From covering for Epstein and his associates to intervening to protect other alleged sex traffickers to pardoning a prominent money launderer for terrorists and child pornographers, and fraudsters who made hefty donations to Trump, as well as those who violently attacked law enforcement on January 6th, the administration has shown it doesn’t care about public safety when providing cover to political allies and the highest bidders.
This flagrant and corrupt hypocrisy and the cruel indifference by this administration towards its own people underlines how hollow and cynical their “crime” fearmongering has become. They don’t care about public safety, they care about power and politics.