Trump’s ‘Plan’ to Tackle Homelessness
Trump’s campaign promises on homelessness lean heavily on fearmongering, xenophobia, and punitive measures that threaten to worsen the crisis rather than solve it.
Empty Promises, Cruel Policies, and the Cost of Looking Away
It’s difficult to predict what Trump will do in an attempt to address homelessness during his second term in office. He’s promised a lot of different things on the campaign trail, and there’s no telling which of those plans, if any, he’ll choose to follow through on. We do know that things are likely to get a lot worse. We must focus on surviving this time together without leaving each other behind.
Here are some of the things Trump has said about homelessness and some ideas for weathering the oncoming storm:
Mass Deportation Will Solve Homelessness
In yet another campaign riddled with xenophobia and violent anti-immigrant sentiment, Trump has many times alluded to his big plans for mass deportation. He claims this will have the happy side effect of solving the homelessness crisis since immigrants are taking our houses and our jobs and everything.
This is not true. Very few immigrants without documentation are able to buy a house in this country. The majority live in low-cost rental housing alongside many other members of their family across all different generations.
Furthermore, the construction industry relies on exploiting undocumented people as low-wage workers that they can pay under the table and freely mistreat without repercussions. Nationwide, immigrants make up a total of 20% of all construction workers. These are the people building the very homes we so desperately need. Mass deportation may result in a negative impact on housing overall.
Banning Street Camping Will Do … Something
Another plan of Trump’s is to “work with states” to make it illegal to camp on the street. Any homeless people who must sleep on the street will be arrested or “given the option” of being concentrated in designated little camps on “inexpensive land” that we’re calling tent cities for now. That sounds like the opening lines to several of history’s most chilling chapters.
He’s also proposed taking several steps backward and reallocating tons of federal funding away from actual housing and toward treatment programs for drug addiction and mental health. Considering the idea of involuntary commitment of homeless people has already been tossed around a fair bit in the last few years, this also does not sound good.
Even in a best-case scenario where these programs are voluntary and helpful, they’re not going to do much of anything for people who are homeless but don’t have debilitating substance use or mental health issues. All they need is housing; for some reason, we consistently refuse to give it to them.
Politician’s Favorite Line Is Trotted Out Again
Lest any of these horrific, punitive plans make him seem insensitive, Trump tries to soften that perception a bit by following up with the line that politicians never fail to trot out, saying, “There is nothing compassionate about letting these individuals live in filth and squalor rather than getting them the help that they need.”
If that sounds incredibly familiar to you, it may be because California Governor Gavin Newsome, a politician who wants to be seen opposing Trump on everything else, recently gave us his rendition. Months before ramping up his efforts to sweep encampments across the state, Newsome said, “There is no compassion in allowing people to suffer the indignity of living in an encampment for years and years.”
Or it could be familiar from any of the other countless times this line has been repeated without the benefit of critical thinking. It keeps getting used because it keeps working to placate voters for the most part. Too many seem satisfied with that empty sentiment without sparing a thought for what would be compassionate. After all, if you’re not going to help people, not intervening to make things worse is the compassionate choice.
All We Have Now Is Each Other
It’s unclear what Trump’s administration will end up doing to try and address the rising rates of homelessness in the USA. It could be any combination of these things, none of them, or something else entirely.
What is clear is that there is no help on the way. We can expect an exacerbation of harm and an increase in criminalization from the federal government and most state and local governments.
These plans rely on being able to scoop up and disappear unhoused people without their housed neighbors noticing or caring. We need to resist that.
Instead, we must rely on one another. Our local communities and the organizations that have been tirelessly supporting our homeless neighbors for years must embrace this responsibility as a collective effort. Ensuring their safety is our shared duty—because we keep each other safe.
Get to know the members of the unhoused community in your area. Learn their names, connect with them, and keep in touch. Form a relationship deep enough that they would let you know if they were planning to leave the area. If they go missing without telling you their plans, try to find them. No one is disposable, and everyone deserves to have someone or a group of someones who will stick up for them, protect them, and become a thorn in the side of any system that seeks to sweep them away.
And if you’re feeling resistant to this idea like it’s not your business and you don’t want to get involved, rest assured that just because they’re coming for homeless people first does not mean they will be the last. If we ignore the mistreatment of society’s most vulnerable people, it’s not like they’ll leave the rest of us in peace. We need to oppose every overstep.
Kayla Robbins
Kayla Robbins is a freelance writer who works with big-hearted brands and businesses. When she’s not working, she enjoys knitting socks, rolling d20s, and binging episodes of The Great British Bake Off.
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