Reference News Network, July 26 report. According to Reuters, July 24 report, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on July 24, urging cities and states to clear homeless camps and transfer these people to treatment centers. Homeless rights advocates said this move would worsen the problem.
The order requires Attorney General Pam Bondi to overturn state and federal legal precedents and consent decrees that limit local governments from dismantling homeless camps. It is unclear how Bondi can unilaterally overturn these decisions.
The National Coalition for the Homeless condemned the order, saying it would undermine the legal protections afforded to the homeless and those with mental illness.
The organization stated that the Trump administration has a "concerning history of ignoring civil rights and due process." The organization warned that this would exacerbate the homelessness crisis.
Trump said that people living in homeless camps should be transferred to facilities that treat mental health and addiction issues. He did not mention any plans to expand treatment centers or provide long-term housing.
According to data collected by the Interagency Council on Homelessness, about 771,480 people were homeless in the United States in 2024, an 18% increase from the previous year. According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, about 36% of them were homeless on the streets, meaning they lived on the streets, in cars, or in camps.
The National Homeless Law Center said that this order, combined with cuts to housing and healthcare budgets, will lead to an increase in the number of homeless people.
Other organizations said the order could make homelessness illegal, pushing people without housing off the streets and thus worsening the crisis.
Many experts believe the root of the homelessness crisis lies in the closure of psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s, replaced by community care. Other reasons include a severe shortage of affordable housing, an increase in poverty, and cuts to public housing assistance programs. (Translated by Li Sha)
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