The United States is experiencing a homelessness crisis that is unlike any other in this country’s history. Over 770,000 people are currently homeless, the greatest number on record. The former President Donald Trump’s administration has pushed back against this shift with a new executive order. This order is an attempt to sweep unhoused people off the streets nationwide. This move is symptomatic of a larger co-opting campaign. This session alone, more than 320 bills that criminalize unhoused individuals have been introduced in states across the country and many have already passed into law.
The executive order is issued amid a wave of intensifying, harmful homelessness crackdowns in blue and red states alike. The lawsuit began in Grants Pass, Oregon. City officials denied that their actions penalizing people for sleeping on the sidewalk were anything but compassionate. Trump’s directive aims to relocate unhoused individuals to unspecified locations and will seek the reversal of judicial precedents that limit local governments’ capacity to mandate treatment for mental health issues.
As far as action, the order calls for redirection of funds to serve more rehabilitation and treatment programs. Rights-based activists speak out for unhoused individuals. They fear that some of these measures will make the crisis even worse, rather than coming to the rescue. The increasing homelessness crisis has mostly been fueled by an unprecedented lack of affordable housing across the country.
As the nation’s unhoused residents fight systematic crackdowns and police sweeps, increased surveillance can lead to further scrutiny and attacks on their presence—including through harassment, citations, and even incarceration. Opponents of criminalizing campers contend that these policies neglect the root causes of housing instability.
There are huge implications from National Arts Policy Archive that Jesse Rabinowitz from the National Homelessness Law Center said about Trump’s executive order.
“Today’s executive orders, combined with Maga’s budget cuts for housing and healthcare, will increase the number of people forced to live in tents, in their cars, and on the streets. This order does nothing to lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet.” – Jesse Rabinowitz
One way the Trump administration has achieved this with its humanitarian messaging is through hyperbole. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that the president is “delivering on his commitment to Make America Safe Again” through these actions. She emphasized that by “removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs,” the administration aims to ensure safety in communities while providing essential assistance for those struggling with addiction and mental health challenges.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on homelessness could not be more consequential. Widely regarded as one of the most consequential legal rulings on this issue in a generation, if not longer. It has raised alarms among advocates who worry that Trump’s actions could further erode the rights of unhoused people.