"The federal takeover of Washington, D.C., rightfully attracted extensive media coverage, but an executive order called "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets," quietly issued on July 24th, received remarkably little attention. Perhaps it didn't make a splash because it wasn't specifically about policing (or, for that matter, National Guarding), but more generally about how we should treat people who already exist on the outermost fringes of society, human beings who have long been reduced to labels like "addict" or "homeless.""
"Identifying a very real crisis, the president's July 24th executive order noted that "the number of individuals living on the streets in the United States on a single night during the last year of the previous administration - 274,224 - was the highest ever recorded." The order went on to state that the majority of those who are unhoused have a substance use disorder, with two-thirds reporting that they have used hard drugs at some point in their lives."
An executive order titled "Ending Crime and Disorder on America's Streets" was issued on July 24, framing homelessness and substance use as a public "disorder." The order cited 274,224 people living on the streets on a single night as the highest recorded number and claimed that a majority of unhoused people have substance use disorders, with two-thirds having used hard drugs. The administration's proposed solution emphasized shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings to restore public order without specifying which institutions. The policy aligns with long-standing norms of marginalizing people experiencing homelessness and addiction and risks further criminalization instead of addressing trauma, mental health, and housing costs.
Read at The Nation
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