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Cities Split Over Trump’s Homelessness Enforcement Order

Federal incentives are driving aggressive camp clearances that mandate involuntary treatment, prompting legal challenges from advocates warning of civil-rights infringements.

Overview

  • The executive order directs federal agencies to support jurisdictions that ban camping, squatting, public drug use and loitering while incentivizing involuntary mental health and addiction treatment.
  • San Jose and other cities have increased encampment clearances, arrested individuals refusing shelter and used civil-commitment policies to transfer people into treatment facilities.
  • Supporters such as Rep. Abe Hamadeh and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan describe the order as a compassionate public safety measure that expands treatment options and protects neighborhood order.
  • The National Alliance to End Homelessness and housing advocates argue that punitive sweeps displace unhoused people without reducing homelessness, undermine housing-first programs and threaten overdose-prevention sites.
  • Implementation is uneven nationwide, with legal challenges to forced treatment mandates and pushback against shifting funding from affordable housing to enforcement.