Trump admin brainstorms aggressive tactics to clear homeless camps in cities and forcibly hospitalize people, report claims

Officials from the Justice Department who manage grant distributions are brainstorming ways to clear homeless encampments and increase the involuntary hospitalization of individuals with mental illnesses, according to an email obtained byThe Washington Post.

This represents the latest indication that the Trump administration is following through on commitments to aggressively remove homeless people from public spaces, as President Donald Trump spoke of during the 2024 campaign.

Just last month, the president issued an executive order aimed at making the District of Columbia “safe and beautiful,” which instructed the National Park Service to remove all homeless encampments from federal land in the capital.

In the past, he has spoken of housing the homeless in tent cities on inexpensive land on the outskirts of cities and jailing those who refuse “treatment.”

The email was sent on Thursday evening to employees in the Office of Justice Programs and included eight questions asking for input on how best to direct resources to issues concerning homelessness and mental illness. Recipients have until Wednesday to submit their responses.

“What can DOJ do to more efficiently shift chronic vagrants away from the public square and into a more concentrated space so that order can be restored and resources and services can be deployed more effectively?” one of the questions read.

The email stated that the White House had directed the department and other agencies to provide legislative, funding, and other solutions for issues related to homelessness, mental health, and more.

Many email recipients in the Justice Department work with grantees and specialize in implementing the department’s policies aimed at improving public safety through research and community support.

“What can DOJ do to increase the availability and use of involuntary commitment for individuals with serious mental illness who, otherwise, cannot or will not receive care?” another question read. “Alternatively, what can the Federal government do to shift state and local governments’ policies and behavior on this issue?”

Staff were also asked for ideas on how to decrease panhandling and increase resources available to incarcerated people who face addiction and mental illness in federal prisons.

Another question asked staff how to prioritize mental health resources for people who suffer from the most serious mental illnesses: “What federal resources should be redirected from supporting mental health treatment toward supporting the treatment of serious mental illness, for the sake of prioritization of limited resources and efficacy?”

Traditionally, both Republican and Democratic administrations have focused on a “Housing First” approach to homelessness and mental illness — get people into stable housing and then direct them to mental health services or help with drug addiction. The email asked which federal programs should maintain such an approach.

There have already been deep cuts to the homelessness efforts of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which could worsen the number of unhoused people, advocates warn.

Speaking to the Post, Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, expressed concern that the involvement of the Justice Department by the administration could lead to the criminal prosecution of people who live on the streets.

“My immediate reaction is that they are talking to the wrong people for finding solutions to homelessness. The criminal justice system and DOJ cannot solve homelessness,” he told the paper. “The real solution is housing.”

In June 2024, the Supreme Court ruled to allow the criminalization of homelessness after the conservative majority said it would allow laws that permit police to ticket, fine, or arrest those who sleep in public areas.

The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which coordinates policy across the federal government, was effectively shut down in the name of cost-cutting by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency earlier this month.

With fewer than 20 employees and a budget of just over $4 million, Congress created the agency in 1987 to make sure that the federal response to homelessness was coordinated, efficient, and reduced duplication across federal agencies.