Democratic officials across the nation denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to deploy federal law enforcement to crime-ridden cities, branding it a “fascist takeover.” Yet what they fail to recognize is that their own inability to confront rising crime is precisely what created the opening for federal intervention in the first place.

Crime data makes clear that cities with lax policing, soft-on-crime policies, and officials willing to tolerate lawlessness consistently suffer crime rates far above the national average — providing the very justification for federal authorities to step in.

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REPUBLICANS WELCOME LAW ENFORCEMENT, DEMOCRATS CHAMPION CRIME

Take Portland, Oregon, for example. While city officials insist, without evidence, that their soft-on-crime approach has reduced crime enough to keep federal authorities at bay, the city’s crime statistics tell a very different story.

Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR) claimed last week that she and other state and local officials could “manage their own public safety needs.” That assertion is flatly contradicted by reality. In the same press conference, Kotek went so far as to insist Portland’s crime rate was not “a real emergency” and therefore did not warrant federal involvement.

But to a presidential administration committed to protecting American families, the situation in Portland is urgent, which is why Trump acted. The city’s crime problem has spiraled into disaster, and federal intervention is not only justified but necessary.

Instead of admitting failure and welcoming help, Kotek and her allies continue to downplay the crisis created by their soft-on-crime policies, dismissing the president’s effort to restore order as “fascism.” For decades, Oregon’s political class has had every opportunity to strengthen law enforcement, enforce tougher laws, and dismantle the revolving door of repeat and undocumented offenders. Yet rather than taking responsibility, they have drained taxpayers while ignoring the chaos consuming their communities.

In 2023, the city’s police department witnessed an unprecedented number of resignations after Portland Mayor Keith Wilson advocated robust public safety programs instead of enhancing the already overwhelmed police department, which made it more evident than ever that the underfunded police department is in dire need of help.   

Instead, Portland’s administrators decided to enact a budget for the next fiscal year that allocated another $8 billion of hard-earned taxpayer dollars to social initiatives while providing less funding than expected to the Portland Police Department. 

Portland’s failures are hardly unique. Across the country, Democratic-led cities have embraced soft-on-crime agendas that ultimately invite the very federal law enforcement they now oppose.

Take Los Angeles, for instance. With crime rates even higher than Portland’s, the city has been under Democratic control for decades. When federal officers stepped in earlier this year to address the chaos local leaders allowed to fester, Democrats resisted at every turn, fighting to block law enforcement from doing its job.

Not only did Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) call the federal enforcement of the law a “theatre” and urge Trump to withdraw the troops, but the Trump administration was then sued by groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and Public Counsel for enforcing the law. 

Similarly, officials in Memphis mirrored these actions. Mayor Paul Young said, “I’m certainly not happy about the National Guard,” and promised that under him, Memphis is “going to do all that we can to make sure that it has a limited impact on our community.”

However, Young needs to accept that the federal government is actually doing him a favor, and cleaning up his city from the crime that he and other Memphis Democrats cannot control. According to official crime statistics, Memphis has a significantly higher crime rate than both Los Angeles and Portland. 

DEMS’ IN DISSARAY: BOWSER COOPERATES, PRITZKER DEFIES ON CRIME 

In 2023, the Memphis City Council voted to slash police pensions and reshape the city’s police force. In the years to follow, the city implemented radical reforms to its police department, restricting the force’s ability to actually police.

Instead of resisting the president’s efforts to keep the public safe, Democrats should unify behind the rule of law and acknowledge that if they really did not want the Trump administration to oversee the city’s crime problem, they should have enforced the law when they had the chance.