WASHINGTON — One year after President Donald Trump’s executive order on homelessness took effect, homelessness advocates say the administration has fundamentally reshaped federal policy in ways they argue are worsening the nation’s housing crisis, shifting resources away from evidence-based approaches while encouraging punitive measures that criminalize people experiencing homelessness.
The National Homelessness Law Center marked the anniversary Friday with a statement describing the executive order as “this administration’s blueprint for destroying federal homelessness policy,” arguing that the changes have undermined decades of research supporting housing-first strategies and expanded efforts to penalize unhoused people rather than address the root causes of homelessness.
“Let’s be clear: despite the myths and misdirection coming from the White House, the only real solution to homelessness is getting folks the housing and support they want and need,” the organization said.
Rather than addressing rising housing costs, expanding health care or increasing access to supportive services, the organization contends the administration has embraced policies that increase instability.
“But instead of using their power to bring down rent, fund vital healthcare services, and help people make ends meet, the Trump administration is attacking homeless people and undermining real solutions to homelessness like housing and support,” the statement says. “This makes homelessness worse.”
According to the National Homelessness Law Center, administration actions have included proposed changes to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development funding guidelines that would pressure local communities to comply with new ideological requirements rather than invest in permanent housing and supportive services.
The organization warns that, if implemented, those changes could push at least 97,000 additional people into homelessness.
The statement also criticizes federal directives encouraging the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Justice to pursue institutionalization and guardianships affecting homeless individuals, including veterans, while asserting that the Department of Health and Human Services has retreated from mental health and substance use treatment programs in favor of policies that have historically failed to reduce homelessness.
The advocacy organization further points to increased federal law enforcement activity in Washington, D.C., saying the administration explicitly targeted homeless encampments, while also encouraging states to adopt increasingly punitive laws governing people experiencing homelessness.
Among the examples cited are proposals for a homeless detention camp in Utah and a Louisiana law that includes forced labor provisions connected to homelessness-related enforcement.
The National Homelessness Law Center argues these developments are part of a broader national effort to criminalize homelessness rather than solve it through affordable housing and supportive services.
“This order did not emerge in a vacuum,” the organization said. “It is just one part of Trump’s extensive racist and authoritarian agenda, targeting and dehumanizing people whom he mistakenly thinks are disposable.”
The organization also criticizes the influence of the Cicero Institute, a conservative public policy organization that has advocated for greater use of enforcement and accountability measures in addressing homelessness.
According to the Law Center, the institute has played a significant role in shaping both state legislation and federal policy.
The statement cites comments from a Cicero official who reportedly said “the Trump administration took our conversations, took our recommendations, and made something out of it.”
While advocates criticize those developments, supporters of tougher enforcement argue that governments need stronger tools to address public encampments, improve public safety and encourage individuals to engage with treatment and shelter programs.
The debate over homelessness policy has intensified nationwide since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that local governments may prohibit public camping, removing significant constitutional barriers to enforcement.
According to an NPR report included with the source materials, at least 11 states have adopted statewide camping bans over the past four years, while more than 300 municipalities have enacted similar ordinances since the Supreme Court decision.
The report highlights the case of Joseph Williams, a 49-year-old Nashville man who became one of the first homeless individuals in the country charged with felony camping after refusing to leave a public park where he had lived for several years.
Williams ultimately spent nine days in jail before prosecutors dismissed the felony camping charges as part of a plea agreement resolving a misdemeanor count.
“The slickest thing was asking me if I knew what I was pleading to,” Williams told NPR. “I’m just trying to plead to get out of here.”
The article describes Tennessee as the only state where camping on public property can be prosecuted as a felony.
Williams returned to the same Nashville park after his release from jail.
His longtime friend, John Lozier, who helped him after his release, recalled asking Williams about the arrest.
“They tased you?” Lozier asked.
“Yeah,” Williams replied.
The NPR report describes homelessness in Nashville as increasing sharply over the past year, with local officials estimating roughly 4,300 people experiencing homelessness by the end of 2025, while chronic homelessness has continued rising nationally even as overall homelessness has shown modest declines.
Lindsey Krinks, co-founder of Open Table Nashville, argued that criminal enforcement has become an increasingly common response as cities struggle with visible homelessness.
“Welcome to the city of Nashville, where luxury condos are going up every few blocks, and everyone living in their shadows are being left out of the progress and sometimes freezing to death or getting heat stroke and dying on our streets,” Krinks said.
Krinks also criticized the growing reliance on law enforcement.
“Punishing people and using police to address homelessness only makes the crisis worse, and it prolongs people’s experience of homelessness,” she said.
“Most people I know experiencing homelessness are so hungry for freedom, for agency, for their dignity to be seen and recognized and understood. Jail erodes every aspect of a person’s agency.”
Supporters of tougher enforcement argue that anti-camping laws are intended to encourage engagement with treatment and social services while making public spaces safer.
Devon Kurtz of the Cicero Institute acknowledged that some critics view the approach as ineffective but defended the overall strategy.
“My hope is that no one is ever convicted under any of these camping bans,” Kurtz said. “The intention is not to jail people.”
He added, “I’ve also said, however, that sometimes, at the margins, it is essential that law enforcement has the ability to jail them because it can save lives.”
Regarding Williams’ return to the park after his release, Kurtz said, “I understand the way it seems a bit ineffective that he ended up right back where he was.”
“But even insofar that he is back in that park, the fact that whatever encampment he had created … was cleared, that park is safer. Him being in that park is actually safer.”
Williams, however, said he considers the park only a place to stay because he has nowhere else to go.
“It has changed so much,” he said of his East Nashville neighborhood. “The color boundaries, let’s keep it real, that’s changed.”
The National Homelessness Law Center argues that the country’s response to homelessness should focus on expanding affordable housing, mental health services and economic support rather than criminal penalties.
“We know it does not have to be like this,” the organization said.
“No one should be sleeping outside in the richest country in the world.”
The organization concluded by calling on elected officials to prioritize housing and supportive services over enforcement.
“Our elected officials must do their jobs and use their power to ensure that everybody, regardless of what they look like, what they do, where they come from, or who they love, has the housing and support they need to thrive.”
To comment please go to one of these social media platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavisVanguard
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peoples-vanguard-of-davis-inc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davisvanguard/
X: https://x.com/davisvanguard
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/vanguardnewsgroup.bsky.social
Subscribe to the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
