The state of Utah could become the first laboratory for Donald Trump’s controversial strategy against homelessness. Local authorities plan to build a complex that provides for forced confinement and mandatory treatment for those suffering from addictions or mental illnesses.
Mexico City, November 4 (However).- The plans of Donald Trump for closing thousands of homeless people who live on the streets could be about to come true. One of the first states that has begun to materialize the vision of the American President and his open rejection of homeless people is Utahwhere local authorities plan to build a camp where they will house up to 1,300 people, in what has been described as a service center by its supporters and as a detention camp by its critics.
Project planners say the site will address addictions and the mental illnessand will provide a humanitarian alternative to the people in street situations.
They also promise harsh measures to move homeless people to the site, which will be located on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, and force many of them to undergo treatment, which has been considered by analysts as a reflection of how the Trump Administration intends to address the issue of homelessness. Planners say the center will also house hundreds of mentally ill homeless people under court-ordered civil commitment, and will include an addiction care center.
Given the ban on sleeping outdoors, a large number of homeless people could consider voluntarily entering this field to avoid jail.
Although the initiative to build a camp to accommodate the homeless was pushed before Trump’s return to the presidency, it reflects his promise to move homeless people from urban centers to “tent cities” with services. The proposal has accelerated after Trump issued an executive order that sanctions those who camp on the street and expands the powers to provide involuntary treatment to homeless people.
Since his campaign days, Trump has accused homeless people of turning big cities into “unhealthy nightmares” and promised to “use any means necessary to get homeless people off the streets.” The then-candidate noted that the government would allocate large tracts of land at low cost where people with serious mental disorders “can be relocated and their problems identified.”
Utah’s homeless detention camp is estimated to be ready by the end of 2027.
Trump’s executive order
Last July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that allows local authorities to remove homeless people from the streets without any impediment.
The executive order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to “reverse judicial precedent and end consent decrees” that limit jurisdictions’ ability to relocate homeless people. It also allocates federal resources so that people who are affected by this order are transferred to rehabilitation and addiction treatment facilities.
The resolution also directs Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy; the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Scott Turner; and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy expedite federal funding to states and municipalities that take action against open illicit drug use, urban camping, loitering and squatting, and to track the location of sex offenders.
Donald Trump suggested that the executive order represents a common-sense approach to the country’s homelessness problem.
“There were some tents right outside, and they’re taking them down right now, you can’t allow that, especially in the city of Washington. I talk to the mayor about this all the time, I told her she has to take down the tents,” Trump told a reporter at the White House. “We can’t have it; leaders come to me to negotiate trade deals of billions and even trillions of dollars, and there are tents outside the White House, we can’t have that. It doesn’t sound good.”
After it became known, advocates for the homeless condemned the decree, arguing that it could worsen the situation. The National Alliance to End Homelessness, an organization dedicated to preventing and ending homelessness in the United States through policy advocacy, research and technical assistance to local communities, said the order would dismantle the foundation of the homelessness response and further dehumanize homeless people.
“The order would impose a multitude of harmful, ineffective and outdated policies and practices to address homelessness. These include attacks on Housing First, calls for forced institutionalization, and the elimination of fundamental privacy protections for people experiencing homelessness,” he mentioned.
According to federal statistics, the number of homeless people in the United States increased almost 60 percent in the last decade due to factors such as uncontrolled increases in rent prices, lack of treatment for mental illness and uncontrollable substance abuse. As makeshift camping and open-air drug use increased, so did demands for a camping ban.
Although Utah seems the clearest example of what Trump has in mind, other communities have begun making arrest threats to move homeless people to designated areas.
One of the best-known examples was that of New Orleans, because while preparing to host the Super Bowl this year, the state police moved more than 120 people from the city center to a remote warehouse that was improvised into a shelter for three months.
In San Diego, camping on the street is also prohibited and is punishable by arrest. In addition, two camping areas have been set up with a total of 800 beds as an alternative to sleeping on the street. However, advocates for the homeless have denounced inhumane conditions in these places, where rats, mold, and the risk of fires and floods have been found.
With concerns that homelessness will negatively impact tourism, a $200 million homeless complex is being built in Las Vegas, funded in part by the casino industry. The complex will offer 900 beds on 10 hectares with comprehensive services and coincides with the entry into force of new prohibitions on sleeping in public, a penalty that is punishable by up to 10 days in jail.