Trump Executive Order on Homelessness Calls for Forced Institutionalization

President Trump signed an executive order that makes it easier for cities to remove unhoused people from the street and potentially institutionalize them, reports Joey Garrison for USA Today.

“The move, first reported by USA TODAY, also redirects federal funds to ensure the homeless people impacted are transferred to rehabilitation, treatment and other facilities, though it was not clear how much money would be allocated,” Garrison adds.

The order, titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets,” directs the Attorney General to seek to reverse judicial precedents and end consent degrees that “limit local and state governments' ability to move homeless people from streets and encampments into treatment centers.”

The National Homelessness Law Center called the action “misguided at best, and counterproductive and dangerous at worst,” noting that forced treatment is “unethical, ineffective, and illegal.”

Coupled with the Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, the order further encourages punitive measures against homeless people that advocates say don’t address the root causes of the crisis.