President Donald Trump signed an order authorizing federal agencies to facilitate the forced hospitalization of homeless individuals with mental illnesses and addictions for longer periods, in an effort to combat what the administration calls “vagrancy” threatening U.S. cities.
- Trump explained that his administration has adopted a new approach to dealing with the homelessness issue, “focused on protecting public safety.”
- The impact of Trump’s executive order remains uncertain, as states set laws and manage the process of involuntary commitments.
- Scout Katovich, an attorney with the ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality, said the order demonstrates a “notable disregard” for the rights and dignity of vulnerable individuals.
The executive order will make it easier for states and cities to remove homeless individuals from the streets and send them to treatment centers, even if they have not given their consent.
Trump explained that his administration has adopted a new approach to dealing with the homelessness issue, “focused on protecting public safety.”
The measure calls on Attorney General Pam Bondi to take legal action to overturn judicial precedents and consent decrees that limit the ability of local and state governments to move individuals living on the streets and in encampments to treatment centers.
It also instructs the attorney general to provide assistance to state and local governments that allow civil commitment and appropriate treatment for individuals with mental illnesses who pose a danger to others or who are living on the street and cannot care for themselves.
The order states that moving homeless individuals to long-term care institutions restores public order. “Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate toward the homeless nor the rest of the citizens,” the Trump order states.
The impact of Trump’s executive order remains uncertain, as states set laws and manage the process of involuntary commitments.
The regulation also requires the Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services, Housing, and Transportation to prioritize federal grants for states and cities that “enforce bans” on open drug use, urban camping, and loitering.
The order also mandates a broad federal collection of data on homeless individuals and people with mental disabilities, which raises serious concerns about surveillance, privacy, and how such data could be used to justify further criminalization, warned the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in a statement.
Scout Katovich, an attorney with the ACLU’s Trone Center for Justice and Equality, said the order demonstrates a “notable disregard” for the rights and dignity of vulnerable individuals.
“Incarcerating people in closed institutions and forcing them into treatment will not solve homelessness or support people with disabilities. The truth is quite the opposite: institutions are dangerous and deadly, and forced treatment does not work,” the attorney added.
Katovich noted that Trump has doubled down on policies that “punish” disadvantaged individuals, such as signing the budget law that decimates the Medicaid public health program, the primary funder of addiction and mental health services.
The measure follows another taken last March when the U.S. president ordered the National Park Service to remove homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands.
The number of people (274,224) who lived on the streets of the United States on a single night in 2024 was the highest ever recorded in the country, according to data cited by the White House in the order.
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