Trump’s Answer to Homelessness? Lock Unhoused and Disabled People Up.

When Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) to “ remove vagrant individuals from our streets ” in July, his administration upended decades of precedent and best practices in treating both unhoused people and those with severe mental health disorders. The announced policy shift not only encourages “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,” but also ends federal support for Housing First — a policy that provides shelter to people in need without conditions — and instead mandates that housing provision be tied to participation in sobriety programs. It further ends support for safe injection sites and distribution of clean needles, and orders the attorney general and secret