Trump signs executive order to clear homeless encampments

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aiming to provide resources that would push cities and states to remove homeless people from sleeping on streets and to crack down on drug use.

The order directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to reverse precedents that limit state and local governments’ ability to commit people on the streets who are at risk to themselves or others, according to a White House fact sheet obtained by The Hill.

It also requires interagency work on grants for states to enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping, loitering and squatting, and to track sex offenders. And, it requires redirecting funds to ensure people sleeping on the streets and causing public disorder, and suffering from serious mental illness or addiction, are moved to facilities like treatment centers.

Additionally, the order requires that discretionary grants for substance use prevention, treatment and recovery do not go toward funding “drug injection sites or illicit drug use,” and it aims to stop sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children and allows programs to house women and children exclusively.

The order, which USA Today first reported on, is described as an effort “to restore order to American cities and remove vagrant individuals from our streets” in the fact sheet. It aims to redirect federal funds toward tackling substance abuse and the necessity of civil commitment.

It is part of Trump’s commitment to ending homelessness, according to the fact sheet, and follows a March order that directed the National Park Service to clear homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands.

According to the latest official estimates, approximately 72,308 people are currently experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, a decline of 4% from a year ago.

On her first day in office in 2022, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass launched her hallmark Inside Safe program with the aim of moving people off the streets and into temporary -and eventually- permanent housing. To date, the mayor’s office says the program has moved 4,300 people “indoors,” and cleared 95 encampments.