Homeless people in Washington have three options under President Donald Trump’s crime control directives: homeless shelter, mental health or addiction treatment, or jail.

The plans for homeless people, many of whom suffer from mental health illnesses, were laid out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt during a Tuesday afternoon briefing while discussing the administration’s move to federalize control of the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy the National Guard to control the “public safety emergency” in the District of Columbia.

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“Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health services,” Leavitt said. “And if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.”

Cleaning up the district was a campaign promise that Trump referenced at least 20 times during the 2024 election season, according to a Tuesday morning press release from the White House. His first promise to use federal law enforcement and the National Guard to restore the district came in February 2023.

Trump said Monday that removing homeless encampments from the capital is an essential part of making Washington safer and more beautiful, but he did not make mention of the connection between homelessness and mental illness.

Although statistics on the homeless population are difficult to collect, social scientists estimate that significant percentages of homeless people suffer from chronic mental health conditions.

Upwards of 40% of those experiencing homelessness have a mental health disorder, and at least a quarter suffer from mental illness and addictions, according to the Canadian website Homeless Hub. The Health and Human Services website on the correlation between mental health and homelessness was down at the time of this reporting.

Leavitt said Tuesday that “the homelessness problem has ravaged the city” and that improving safety in Washington “involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments.”

“Homeless shelters, offered addiction and mental health services, or jail if they refuse, are the options on the table right now,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt cited D.C. Criminal Code 22-1307 and Municipal Regulation 24-100 as giving the MPD the authority to disband homeless encampments, saying the local government has “completely ignored” the laws.

Neither local code outlines a protocol for providing mental health or addiction treatment to homeless people after they have been engaged by police.

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A DOJ spokesperson referred the Washington Examiner to the MPD when asked for specifics on the plans for offering mental health and addiction treatment to homeless people.

The D.C. Deputy of Health and Human Services and the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.