President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Thursday afternoon helping states remove dangerous individuals from the streets, a White House official says.
The directive will “restore order to American cities and remove vagrant individuals from our streets, redirecting federal resources toward programs that tackle substance abuse and returning to the acute necessity of civil commitment.”
The Trump administration will direct Attorney General Pam Bondi to end precedents and decrees that limit state and local governments from removing people from the streets who are a risk to themselves or others.
Trump is following through on his commitment to address homelessness in America, according to the White House.
“We will use every tool, lever, and authority to get the homeless off our streets. We want to take care of them, but they have to be off our streets,” Trump said in 2023.
In March of this year, he signed an executive order directing the National Park Service to clear all homeless encampments and graffiti on federal lands in the nation’s capital.
Thursday’s order expands on the March directive by redirecting funding to ensure that those who are camping on streets across the country, causing public disorder, and/or suffering from serious mental illness or addiction are moved into treatment centers, assisted outpatient treatment, or other facilities.
The order ensures discretionary grants for substance-use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery do not fund drug-injection sites or illicit-drug use.
It also stops sex offenders who receive homelessness assistance from being housed with children, and allows programs to house women and children separately from men.
The attorney general will work with the secretaries of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation to reward states and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit-drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders.