During the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Minneapolis, Insha Rahman of the Vera Institute sparked controversy by suggesting that migrant crime and carjackings ‘don’t matter to that many Americans.’ Her remarks, which framed Trump’s crime crackdown as a political power grab, drew sharp criticism, particularly from conservatives who highlighted the Vera Institute’s connections to defunding the police and progressive causes like BLM. The controversy intensified as social media and political figures like Steve Guest and the RNC Research account exposed the institute’s funding sources and its stance on criminal justice reform.