On Thursday, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.” The order’s stated goal is to help remove “vagrant individuals” from public spaces and redeploy federal resources toward institutional treatment for substance abuse and mental health challenges.
You can read the White House’s Fact Sheet on the order here.
What the Order Says
- It directs the Attorney General to “reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees that limit State and local governments’ ability to commit individuals on the streets who are a risk to themselves or others.”
- It directs the Attorney General “to work with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and the Secretary of Transportation to prioritize grants for states and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.”
- It redirects funding to ensure that “individuals camping on streets and causing public disorder and that are suffering from serious mental illness or addiction are moved into treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.”
- It “ensures discretionary grants for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery do not fund drug injection sites or illicit drug use.”
- It “stops sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children, and allows programs to exclusively house women and children.”
As justification for these changes, the White House cites the number of individuals living on the streets in the United States on a single night as “274,224,” which it states was recorded during the final year of the Biden administration and claims is “the highest ever recorded.” The order also claims that “the overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both.”
It also claims that past federal and state programs designed to tackle this issue have addressed “homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.”
The new EOs follows a June 6-3 Supreme Court decision that ruled that homeless individuals could be arrested or fined for sleeping in public areas.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on the EO to USA TODAY, saying, “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.”
“We can protect the safety and security of our streets while also supporting access to resources that will help homeless Americans break cycles of addiction and dependency,” said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. “The Biden administration failed to address the root causes of homelessness and as a result we saw the largest number of individuals living on the streets ever recorded. Having a heart for our homeless brothers and sisters does not mean indefinitely subsidizing housing without accountability and proper requirements for treatment, recovery, and pathways for self-sufficiency. Having a heart for our homeless brothers and sisters means helping them get back on their feet through a holistic approach so that the tough times will be temporary, and our streets and communities will be safer.”
The EO comes amid ongoing shortages of affordable housing within the U.S., and sharply divided opinions on how to best address the problem. Speaking at the J. Ronald Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy’s annual Terwilliger Center Summit on Housing Supply Solutions in Washington, D.C. earlier in July, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said:
“We need about seven million units of housing in our country today. Housing prices are going up … The median home price as of this past April was $414,000 in America—a 21% increase from April of 2021. Home sales last year were at their all-time lowest level in the last three decades. This is not sustainable for our country.”
Critics Voice Concerns
Shortly after the EO was announced, various organizations focused on addressing homelessness began releasing statements criticizing the Order.
In its statement, the National Homelessness Law Center called the EO “misguided” and warned that it could actually exacerbate the issue.
“Today’s executive orders, combined with MAGA’s budget cuts for housing and healthcare, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars, and on the streets. This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet,” said Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center. “The safest communities are those with the most housing and resources, not those that make it a crime to be poor or sick. As a licensed mental health professional, I know that forced treatment is unethical, ineffective, and illegal. People need stable housing and access to healthcare. 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.
A statement from the National Coalition for the Homeless struck a similar tone, warning that the EO’s policy shifts could “make our cities more dangerous for residents who are poor.”
Everyone deserves a safe place to live,” stated Donald Whitehead, Jr., NCH Executive Director. “These executive orders ignore decades of evidence-based housing and support services in practice. They represent a punitive approach that has consistently failed to resolve homelessness and instead exacerbates the challenges faced by vulnerable individuals.”
