A senior official from a George Soros-funded organization told Democrats at their summer meeting Monday that illegal immigrant crime and violent carjackings “don’t matter to that many Americans” and urged party leaders to avoid discussing these issues with voters.
Insha Rahman, vice president of advocacy and partnerships at the Vera Institute of Justice, made the comments during a political strategy session at the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis.
Rahman called President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown a “political liability” and advised Democrats to focus on other issues instead.
“Where does Trump go? Migrant crime, carjackings, the really lurid awful stuff that is a crazy, crazy visual,” Rahman said. “Don’t take the bait, because most Americans are more worried about how we are going to address mental health issues, the visible homelessness that we see on the streets.”
“Don’t take the bait in talking about migrant crime or carjackings or the things that actually don’t matter to that many Americans,” Rahman continued.
Rahman presented polling data from her own organization showing that 29% of Americans are concerned about carjackings and 28% are concerned about illegal immigrant crime — nearly a third of all voters are deeply concerned about their safety and rising crime in Democrat-controlled cities.
The Vera Institute has received over $11 million in grants from Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society since 2016. The organization won a $171.7 million federal contract from the Biden administration to provide attorneys to unaccompanied illegal immigrant minors to fight deportation proceedings.
Between July 2020 and June 2021, $152 million of the Vera Institute’s $191 million revenue came from taxpayer-funded government grants and contracts. Rahman makes over $300,000 in salary, according to tax filings.
The Vera Institute also has a long record of supporting defunding the police. In a 2020 statement during the violent George Floyd riots, the organization declared: “We must dismantle the current culture of policing in the United States.”
The group announced it was “building on this unique moment of public awareness, outrage, and calls to defund the police” and supported “the outrage we’re seeing” during the riots.
Rahman told Democrats that Trump’s approach “is not about safety” but represents “a political power grab, and he will do it however he can, whether that’s at the ballot box or taking over our cities.”
She advised Democrats to claim credit for any crime reduction rather than let Trump take credit. “It’s going down in spite of him and because of Democratic leadership like mine. That is the phrase you want to use,” Rahman said.
“Don’t be afraid of the crime debate. Lean all the way in. Call out what Trump is doing and say the reason crime is going down, our community becoming safer, it’s because of us,” she added.
Rahman specifically said Democrats must promote “cashless bail” policies that have let accused criminals walk free from police custody just hours after their arrest.
“They want money and privilege and to give a handout to the bail bondsman while we want to make sure safety, not wealth, determines who stays in jail and who goes home to their families.”
The DNC meeting opened Monday with a “woke” land acknowledgment recognizing the Dakota Oyate tribe as the “original stewards of the lands and waters” of Minneapolis.
Some Democrats have pushed back on Rahman’s crime strategy. Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told CNN that Democrats must be “much more” honest about rising crime and failed revolving door policies.
“The Democratic Party has to look at this issue much more honestly and say, ‘Hey, there are some places where we should be doing better, our leaders should be doing better,'” de Blasio said.
Take a look at Rahman’s speech —
Migrant crime and car jackings don’t matter??? Tell that to voters—crime & safety were top issues last election. This advice at the DNC’s summer meeting from Insha Rahman, VP of advocacy at a progressive criminal justice reform group, is political suicide. pic.twitter.com/cIgq4VcoT8
— Gerald Posner (@geraldposner) August 26, 2025
Trump announced a crime crackdown after former Department of Government Efficiency staffer Edward Coristine was beaten during an attempted carjacking in Democrat-run Washington, D.C. The administration has mobilized more than 2,200 National Guard troops in Washington and is considering similar measures in other cities, and crime has plummeted in the city.
Trump signed an executive order Monday seeking to eliminate cashless bail for suspects arrested in the nation’s capital. The administration has touted the D.C. crime crackdown as a major success and floated taking similar measures in other Democrat-run cities.