ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY
Last Thursday, President Trump released an Executive Order entitled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.”
The title gives the impression that it is an anti-crime measure. If you consider the act of being homeless a crime, then you would be right.
What it actually does is pave the way for the US Government to force states into returning to the era of treating vagrancy and homelessness as a crime.
The language of the executive order invokes the spirt of the so-called “Black Codes,” relics of the Jim Crow era- laws designed to marginalize poor minorities, and keep vocal African-Americans locked up, and out of the sight of White Society.
What Does The Order Do?
Trump’s order instructs the Attorney General, and the Department of Health and Human Services, to push states to into adopting vagrancy laws that:
- Prohibit “open illicit drug use.”
- Prohibit “urban camping and loitering.”
- Prohibit “urban squatting.”
- Enforce removal from the streets of persons who are a danger to themselves or others who suffer from mental illness, substance abuse or are living on the streets and cannot take care of themselves.
- Enforcing registration requirements and keeping up with homeless sex offenders.
The order also directs an end to support for “housing first” initiatives and programs “that de-prioritize accountability and fail to promote treatment, recovery, and self-sufficiency.”
Persons or organizations who promote or operate “safe consumption sites” that distribute clean needles or other drug paraphenalia are to be investigated and prosecuted.
It also would require programs that receive federally funded housing assistance to be required to collect and disclose confidential medical information from participants and disclose it to law enforcement and the federal government.
In essence it aims to deal with America’s homeless by locking them up in jail, mental health or drug treatment centers.
What Does This Do To San Angelo’s Rock Rose Plans?
San Angelo has been dealing with its own homeless population for a long time. Recent census counts put that population at around 800, but the real number is likely higher.
Recently, with the help of the Concho Valley Homeless Coalition, the City has been working on a proposed solution to house the homeless, the Rock Rose Community Campus. That project will rely in part on federal funding.
The executive order does nothing to stop that plan immediately. It is unknown whether this will cause City leaders to reconsider their support for Rock Rose. According to Mike Burnett, Executive Director of The Concho Valley Community Action Agency, the requested grants funds for Rock Rose should not be impacted. But future homeless funding through the Department of Housing and Urban Development might be at risk. .
