President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that pushes cities and states to overhaul the way they manage their homeless populations.
The order pushes local authorities to remove homeless people from the streets and make it easier for them to be committed to mental health and rehabilitation centers.
“Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,” the order reads. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens.”
In a statement to NOTUS, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump’s order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” is an example of his commitment to ending homelessness.
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“By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump Administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental health struggles are able to get the help they need,” Leavitt said.
More than 270,000 homeless people were living on the streets in the last year of the Biden administration, the executive order says, referring to the 2024 point-in-time count of the U.S. homeless population.
“The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both,” reads the order. “The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.”
Donald Whitehead, a spokesperson for the National Coalition for the Homeless, said in a release following the order that the administration’s assertion that homeless individuals are “addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both” is “inaccurate.”
“Furthermore, it disregards the reality that many individuals develop mental health or substance abuse issues after prolonged periods of homelessness due to the lack of safe and affordable housing,” his statement reads.
Trump’s order would reward localities through grants and technical assistance for enforcing prohibitions on illicit drug use, “urban camping and loitering” and “urban squatting.”
The Department of Health and Human Services was also directed to ensure discretionary grants under its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration do not fund “programs that fail to achieve adequate outcomes, including so-called ‘harm reduction’ or ‘safe consumption’ efforts that only facilitate illegal drug use and its attendant harm.”
Jesse Rabinowitz, a spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center, said in a press release Thursday afternoon that Trump’s executive order “does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet.”
“As a licensed mental health professional, I know that forced treatment is unethical, ineffective, and illegal. People need stable housing and access to healthcare,” Rabinowitz said in the statement. “Rather, Trump’s actions will force more people into homelessness, divert taxpayer money away from people in need, and make it harder for local communities to solve homelessness.”
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