SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In a sweeping statement issued this week, the Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign (Sac PPC) condemned a wave of executive actions signed by President Donald J. Trump, characterizing them as an aggressive and calculated assault on the rights and dignity of unhoused people, immigrants, Black and Brown communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and the poor.
According to the Federal Register, Trump has signed 137 executive orders since retaking office in January 2025—ranging from EO 14147 to EO 14283. While not all have been publicly dissected in full, many of them have alarmed civil rights groups for their direct impact on vulnerable populations. Sac PPC, in its statement, labeled the orders “inhumane” and “part of an anti-Black, anti-BPOC, anti-homeless, anti-migrant, anti-trans, and anti-poor agenda.”
“These inhumane Executive Orders and directives must be viewed as part of a broader effort to roll back decades of progress in civil rights, immigrant protections, and anti-poverty policy,” the group said. “We call on all communities to unite in support of marginalized members.”
The organization points to numerous executive actions and proposals from the Trump administration that it believes threaten both constitutional rights and internationally recognized human rights. Among them: a proposed nationwide “camping ban” that would criminalize sleeping in public spaces, and the construction of large government-run detention camps aimed at holding undocumented immigrants and unhoused individuals.
“These proposals are not simply policies—they are declarations of war against the most vulnerable people in our country,” Sac PPC said.
Sac PPC anchors its response in international human rights law, particularly the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms in Article 25(1) that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of themselves and of their family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care.”
These rights are further elaborated by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, whose office defines housing not simply as shelter but as a legal right that includes protection from forced evictions, the right to live in security, peace, and dignity, and access to essential services such as water, electricity, and sanitation. In this view, housing is deeply intertwined with justice and equality, not a commodity to be granted or withdrawn based on race, citizenship, income, or identity.
Sac PPC emphasized this position in their statement, writing: “We reaffirm our core truth: housing, not handcuffs, is the solution to homelessness. Everyone, regardless of race, class, immigration status, gender, or sexuality, deserves a safe place to live. Housing, healthcare, and education are fundamental human rights.”
The group points to the contradiction between these values and recent Trump administration actions, which they say are systematically targeting immigrant students, undocumented workers, poor people, and those living on the streets. While the administration has justified such actions as matters of national security or public order, advocates say the underlying purpose is exclusionary and authoritarian.
The Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign warns that housing and immigration policy are only part of a broader, escalating pattern of attacks on public institutions and civil liberties under the Trump administration’s second term.
In its statement, Sac PPC notes threats to public education (including Head Start, K–12 schools, and higher education), to environmental protections, labor rights, public healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid, cultural institutions, science agencies, and the press. These efforts, the group said, represent a coordinated effort to erase the political, social, and cultural power of historically marginalized communities.
“These are blatant attempts to erase BPOC and other marginalized communities from our nation’s history,” the statement read. “They dehumanize us by denying people’s basic rights and eroding the very foundations of our communities.”
This analysis echoes growing concerns from civil liberties organizations, academic experts, and human rights monitors who have warned of the Trump administration’s authoritarian trajectory and its use of executive authority to bypass Congress and courts. The executive orders issued in 2025 have expanded federal surveillance, empowered law enforcement, and allowed for aggressive immigration enforcement strategies with minimal oversight.
Sac PPC frames the criminalization of poverty and migration as both a policy failure and a moral one. Rather than addressing the structural causes of homelessness, joblessness, or migration—such as unaffordable housing, low wages, war, and climate crisis—the Trump administration’s policies seek to punish and remove vulnerable people from public life.
“This administration is building a society where being poor, being unhoused, or being foreign-born is treated as a crime,” the group said. “But we won’t let them divide us.”
Instead, Sac PPC calls for policies rooted in inclusion, dignity, and care—those that recognize the interconnectedness of housing, healthcare, education, and community safety. The group urges people of all backgrounds to come together in mutual defense of those targeted by state violence and economic exclusion.
“We demand policies that respect human rights, protect families, and ensure dignity to both the housed and unhoused,” the statement concluded. “Let’s not only demand justice but also work collectively to build a future where human dignity and equal opportunity are guaranteed for all.”
The Sacramento Poor People’s Campaign is part of a national movement that began with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s original Poor People’s Campaign in 1968. Today, it organizes around the intersection of economic justice, racial justice, and human rights, mobilizing faith leaders, frontline community members, and activists to fight systemic poverty and injustice.
As the Trump administration continues to implement policies that critics say echo the values of segregation, exclusion, and punishment, Sac PPC is calling on residents, institutions, and organizations to stand together in solidarity with those most at risk.
“This is a moral moment,” the group said. “And we must rise to meet it—not just with outrage, but with organized love, resistance, and vision.”
