An executive order signed by President Donald Trump seeks to tackle crime associated with homelessness across the nation, with locations like Las Vegas experiencing a crisis due to encampments overwhelming communities and straining the local area.
Las Vegas has witnessed a rise in homelessness, marked by a 20% increase within Clark County in 2024, according to the latest statistics from the Southern Nevada Homeless Continuum of Care.
“It’s progressively gotten worse and worse and worse,” Robert Marbut, the former federal homelessness czar during Trump’s first administration, stated to Fox News Digital. “There was a mindset of trying various approaches in the beginning.”
“Transitioning homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for compassionate care through effective civil commitment will restore public order,” the order outlines.
The order empowers the federal government to collaborate with local and state agencies nationwide to implement care for homeless individuals while addressing specific problems, such as squatting and illegal drug use, within communities.
Trump’s administration also intends to ensure that federal funding does not support “safe consumption” policies, which permit homeless individuals to use illegal drugs under supervision.
The move is celebrated by Marbut, who believes it is a step in the right direction toward a federal policy on combating and treating homelessness.
“What the president’s order – and I applaud him for doing this – is saying, we’re going to take a zero-tolerance approach to encampments,” Marbut said.
“So what the executive order is trying to do is stop these encampments under bridges, rivers, out in the open, downtown, back alleys, and get people in the real world. Real programs that really work and not doing gimmicks.”
