President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at assisting local jurisdictions in removing homeless encampments from public streets.
“Endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe. The number of individuals living on the streets in the United States on a single night during the last year of the previous administration — 274,224 — was the highest ever recorded,” the order stated.
The order calls for shifting homeless individuals with drug addiction and mental conditions “into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment,” arguing such action will help “restore public order.” It criticizes current approaches that the administration says have enabled street homelessness rather than addressed its root causes.
The directive orders the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to take steps to reverse legal precedents and consent decrees that limit the ability to relocate homeless individuals. It promotes a federal policy encouraging civil commitment for those who pose a danger to themselves or others or who cannot care for themselves and are living on the streets.
In addition, the order directs the federal government to provide grant incentives for states to enforce stricter laws against urban camping and squatting. It also calls for a halt to federal funding for so-called “harm reduction” or “safe consumption” drug programs.
When asked Friday about a homeless encampment outside the US Treasury Department, Trump responded, “I think it’s terrible and we’ll have them removed immediately,” according to the Daily Wire. “We’ve got to get the mayor to run this city properly. This city has to be run. You know, I have the right to take it over, and I think it’s terrible.”
The order comes in the wake of a Supreme Court decision last year that upheld the constitutionality of local ordinances banning public camping, giving cities and states more authority to clear homeless encampments from public spaces.
