President Trump has 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 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 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.
