A sweeping new executive order signed by President Trump on Thursday is drawing sharp criticism from public health advocates and civil rights organizations who say the policy criminalizes homelessness, undermines civil liberties, and ignores evidence-based solutions.
The order promotes a strategy of increased surveillance, forced treatment, and displacement of unhoused individuals from public spaces. It links federal housing support to compliance with mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and directs the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to collect and share health data with law enforcement. Critics say the move will worsen homelessness and deepen systemic inequality rather than provide meaningful support.
“This Order promotes the illusion of safety by criminalizing people for being visibly unhoused rather than addressing root causes like the dearth of affordable housing and accessible substance use disorder and mental health care,” said Paul N. Samuels, President and Director of the Legal Action Center (LAC). “The approach echoes decades of failed ‘tough on crime’ strategies that have harmed already marginalized communities, especially Black and brown.”
The order also penalizes local and state governments that decline to implement public space removal policies and involuntary treatment mandates, marking what LAC describes as a return to “draconian” measures that stigmatize people struggling with poverty, mental illness, or addiction.
Gabrielle de la Guéronnière, Vice President of Health and Justice Policy at LAC, warned the order echoes “one of our country’s most shameful periods of disappearing people from sight and forcing them into large, abusive institutions.”
“Rather than returning to one of our country’s most shameful periods of disappearing people from sight and forcing them into large, abusive institutions—which is deeply dehumanizing, fiscally irresponsible, and will only entrench cycles of surveillance and control, particularly for Black and brown people—we should be breaking down the racist structural barriers that trap people in poverty and investing in equitable systems of care and support.” de la Guéronnière said.
Privacy experts also raised alarms over the order’s requirement for HUD programs to share sensitive health data with law enforcement agencies. Jacqueline Seitz, LAC’s Deputy Director of Health Privacy, called the provision “wrong—legally, ethically, and from a public health perspective.”
The executive order outlines new reentry provisions requiring people exiting incarceration to comply with federally approved housing release plans. But the policy, critics argue, fails to address the legal and practical barriers that people with criminal records face in securing housing and employment.
“Without dismantling discriminatory barriers or confronting landlord bias, these measures are designed to fail,” said Deborah Steinberg, LAC’s Senior Health Policy Attorney. She also pointed to the Administration’s budget cuts to Medicaid, affordable housing programs, and community mental health providers as evidence that the order is out of step with the actual needs of vulnerable populations.
“If this administration truly wants to reduce overdose deaths and improve public safety, it must fund what works: harm reduction programs, overdose prevention centers, and widespread access to voluntary, non-coercive treatment and care,” added Deborah Reid, another Senior Health Policy Attorney with LAC. “the housing first approach has repeatedly proven to reduce homelessness, improve health outcomes, and strengthen communities.”
The Legal Action Center says it will fight the order and continue supporting services that prioritize autonomy, dignity, and civil rights. “Any strategy to support vulnerable people must reject coercive, discriminatory assumptions,” the group said in a statement. “Failing to do so will only deepen harm and further marginalize already at-risk communities.”
The executive order is expected to face legal challenges from civil liberties organizations in the coming weeks.
