WASHINGTON — President Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling on states and cities to end “endemic vagrancy” — and rehouse homeless people including drug addicts and those suffering from mental problems in “treatment centers.”
The order redirects federal funding to prioritize “shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment.”
On average, more than 274,000 people were sleeping on the streets each night last year under then-President Joe Biden, the order says.
“The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both,” the document says.
“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.”
Trump has for years complained about homeless encampments along major roads in Washington, DC, and proposed reopening insane asylums to house the nation’s most dangerous street people.
It was not immediately clear how much funding would be steered toward the new initiative, or whether there would be a parallel effort to reopen long-shuttered institutions as a public safety strategy.
The order identifies “assisted outpatient treatment” as an option in addition to “institutional treatment.”
States and municipalities that already crackdown on open illicit drug use and urban camping, loitering or squatting, and tracking sex offenders, will be prioritized for grants.
“President Trump is delivering on his commitment to Make America Safe Again and end homelessness across America,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“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.”
Tent cities that have particularly upset the president sprung up during his first term between the Kennedy Center and the White House, in an area his motorcade traverses on the way to and from his northern Virginia golf course.
Another rat-infested encampment lasted for years in McPherson Square just north of the White House, spooking passersby who regularly spotted occupants staggering around, conversing with themselves and urinating on lamp posts.
Trump griped that the grim scenes in DC were on display for visiting world leaders — and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration has since conducted whack-a-mole camp clearances in the capital’s core.
The Supreme Court ruled last year in a 6-3 decision that localities have a right to impose fines on homeless people who camp without permission on public property.
