"Trump's July executive order frames the country's homelessness crisis as the sole product of mental illness and drug addiction and helps make it easier to arrest and involuntarily commit the homeless. This is a continuation of a years-long effort by American elites to redirect attention away from the root causes of homelessness. According to a study from UCSF's Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative last year (one of the deepest dives into California's crisis in decades),"
"Trump's order largely copies plans that California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has rolled out in a Democratic super majority state in recent years. (There's always plenty of bipartisanship when it comes to wars or kicking the poor). Unsurprisingly, California's efforts have done nothing to bring down the number of people sleeping on the streets. Neither has the criminalization wave across the country - although it could potentially be contributing to the rebound in the US' exceptional prison population:"
Federal and state responses to homelessness emphasize criminalization and mental-illness or addiction narratives that expand powers to arrest and involuntarily commit unhoused people. Trump's July executive order codifies a mental-health framing and eases enforcement actions, mirroring policies enacted in California under Governor Gavin Newsom. A UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative study identifies increasing precariousness among the working poor as the main driver of homelessness, highlighting housing affordability and labor instability. Enforcement and criminalization have not reduced street homelessness and may contribute to higher incarceration, while creating opportunities for private actors to profit from displacement.
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