Trump is right about homeless camps: Make them 'move out, IMMEDIATELY'
Not that I don't adore my home state and its abundance of natural beauty, from the mountains to the ocean.
It's the endemic homelessness that's been allowed to fester in cities across the state that disgusts me.
These 'encampments' litter sidewalks, underpasses, roadways, downtowns and even parks and natural areas. They are trash heaps that are not only eye sores but also create public health and safety hazards and ruin neighborhoods and businesses.
I've seen it happen in my hometown of Salem, and it's true in cities up and down the West Coast. And the progressive elected officials who let this happen should be held to account.
It's not just a Pacific Northwest and California problem, however. Other liberal states and cities have allowed homelessness to infect their communities, too.
Since they don't seem capable of handling the situation on their own, I was pleased to see President Donald Trump's willingness to take action.
This week, Trump turned his focus to crime and homelessness in Washington, DC, but he's also taken executive measures this summer to alleviate homeless camps across the country.
Thank goodness.
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Is Trump 'cruel'? Maybe he's actually doing some good.
In two executive orders issued Aug. 11, Trump laid out his plan for cleaning up the streets of the nation's capital, saying he wants people camping in public spaces to 'move out, IMMEDIATELY.'
'We're going to be removing homeless encampments from all over our parks, our beautiful, beautiful parks, which now a lot of people can't walk on,' Trump said. The president also said he'd focus on ridding underpasses and other public places of these camps.
In a social media post, Trump compared his plan to push back on homeless camps to how efficiently he closed down former President Joe Biden's open border.
This follows a July executive order aimed at curbing homelessness more broadly. The Trump administration points to the record number of people sleeping on the streets – more than 270,000 in 2024. The president pledged to make it a priority to stand by communities as they seek to enforce laws against public camping and drug use.
'Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,' the order states. 'Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens. My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.'
Yet, for this to work, states and cities must get on board with making it illegal to set up 'camps' in the first place. It's shocking that some politicians – such as Democrats in Oregon – are refusing to do that.
Liberals like to call Trump cruel for taking action against homelessness. They're wrong.
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Supreme Court greenlighted efforts to curb homelessness. States should get on board.
It's not just a Republican priority, either.
Even California Gov. Gavin Newsom – who is about as progressive as they come – has gotten sick of the rampant encampments in his state and the unwillingness of cities to fight it. He's threatened to withhold funding from communities that do nothing, which is encouraging to see.
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I feel for cities like Grants Pass, Oregon, that have tried to clean up public spaces but are hampered in their efforts.
Grants Pass is the city behind the 2024 win at the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld bans on homeless people camping in public. The city started to clean up its streets and parks but was recently sued for violating state laws on homelessness.
It's not a kindness to allow homeless people to live in squalor. And it's unfair to taxpaying citizens to allow their public spaces to be overrun with it.
I am thrilled Trump is standing up to the liberal, do-nothing attitude. Our cities will all benefit if he succeeds.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump is taking much-needed steps to clean up homeless camps | Opinion
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