President Donald Trump signed an executive order meant to address the homelessness crisis in America on Thursday.
The order described the problem plaguing cities and then set out a plan to ease the crisis. The order said that under former President Joe Biden, the crisis had reached a historic rate of 274,000 people sleeping on the street on an average night.
‘The Trump administration will ensure that Americans feel safe in their own communities.’
“My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety,” the order reads.
The federal government will provide funding in order to prioritize “shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment.”
The order criticized billions of dollars of government funding that was spent on homelessness but did not tackle the root causes of the crisis.
“The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health disorder, or both,” it reads.
The order authorized U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek remedies to allow local governments to relocate homeless people from tents and other public areas into rehabilitation, treatment, and other facilities.
The order also ensures that federal spending isn’t wasted on programs that fund drug injection sites or illicit drug use.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt released a statement to Newsweek about the order.
“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.
RELATED: California mayor says 94% of homeless people refuse help because of addiction and mental illness
Predictably, many on the left have already attacked the order.
“The National Homelessness Law Center strongly condemns today’s executive order, which deprives people of their basic rights and makes it harder to solve homelessness,” reads a statement from the NHLC. “This executive order is rooted in outdated, racist myths about homelessness and will undoubtedly make homelessness worse.”
“Donald Trump intends to send the homeless and mentally ill to institutions or concentration camps, thus continuing his perfect imitation of Third Reich policies,” podcaster Jim Stewartson responded. “He’s taking his personal hell out on everyone else. It will get as dark as we let it.”
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