President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order on Thursday aimed at enabling cities and states to remove homeless individuals from streets and redirect them to treatment and rehabilitation facilities, according to a White House summary obtained by USA TODAY.
The order, titled “Ending Vagrancy and Restoring Order,” comes amid a record high of over 771,800 people living without housing in 2024, an 18.1% increase from 2023, per a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) count.
The executive action directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees” that restrict local governments from moving homeless individuals from streets and encampments into facilities addressing substance abuse and mental health issues.
“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,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
The order prioritizes federal grants for states and cities that enforce bans on open illicit drug use, urban camping, loitering, and squatting, while also tracking sex offenders. It prohibits discretionary grants for substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery from funding drug injection sites or illicit drug use. Additionally, it ensures that convicted sex offenders receiving homeless assistance are not housed with children and supports programs exclusively for women and children.
The move follows a June 2025 Supreme Court ruling that upheld a Grants Pass, Oregon, ordinance allowing fines and arrests for sleeping in public spaces, overturning a lower court’s decision that such bans constituted cruel and unusual punishment when a shelter is unavailable.
Trump has long criticized homeless encampments, particularly on federal lands.
In a 2023 campaign video, Trump stated, “We will use every tool, lever, and authority to get the homeless off our streets. We want to take care of them, but they have to be off our streets.”
The order builds on a March directive to clear homeless encampments and graffiti from federal lands, addressing challenges in cities struggling to balance affordable housing shortages with stricter laws against public camping.