President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order that aims to crack down on homelessness in the US, and it’s left social media users extremely concerned.
On Thursday (July 24), Trump signed an order seeking ‘the reversal of Federal or State judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees’ in order to make it easier for cities to remove homeless people from the streets and into treatment centers.
The order calls for Attorney General Pam Bondi to ‘seek, in appropriate cases, the reversal of Federal or State judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees that impede the United States’ policy of encouraging civil commitment of individuals with mental illness who pose risks to themselves or the public or are living on the streets and cannot care for themselves in appropriate facilities for appropriate periods of time’.
It further adds: “Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order. Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens.”
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Trump signed an executive order which would make it easier for cities to remove homeless people from the streets (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told USA TODAY that Trump is ‘delivering on his commitment to Make America Safe Again and end homelessness across America’.
“By removing vagrant criminals from our streets and redirecting resources toward substance abuse programs, the Trump Administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities and that individuals suffering from addiction or mental health struggles are able to get the help they need,” she said.
However, the new order has caused some outrage, with the National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) calling it ‘dangerous’.
In a statement, they said it would ‘make homelessness worse’ as it ‘deprives people of their basic rights’.
They continued to say that the order doesn’t do anything to ‘lower the cost of housing or help people make ends meet’, adding: “The safest communities are those with the most housing and resources, not those that make it a crime to be poor or sick.
“Forced treatment is unethical, ineffective, and illegal. People need stable housing and access to healthcare.
The NHCLA said it would ‘make homelessness worse’ (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
“Rather, Trump’s actions will force more people into homelessness, divert taxpayer money away from people in need, and make it harder for local communities to solve homelessness.”
This order comes after the Supreme Court’s decision in June to ban people from sleeping rough in public places, according to the BBC.
And Trump’s newest executive order has sparked concern amongst social media users.
On a Reddit thread regarding the order, one person claimed it was ‘the republican solution to actual societal problems’ to instead ‘lock the people away where the rest of society doesn’t have to see them instead of helping them recover and get better and solve their problems’.
While another said: “This is terrifying!”
