President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that directs federal agencies to help cities and states clear homeless encampments and move unhoused people into treatment or institutional care facilities. The White House said the measure, titled “Ending Vagrancy and Restoring Order,” fulfills the president’s pledge to curb street homelessness and improve public safety. The order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue reversal of court precedents and consent decrees that limit local authority to dismantle encampments. It also tells the Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development and Transportation to give funding priority to jurisdictions that enforce bans on urban camping, open drug use and loitering. Federal grants are barred from supporting supervised drug-use sites, and programs that exclusively house women and children are encouraged. Advocacy groups, including the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Alliance to End Homelessness, warned that the policy could criminalize poverty and force people into involuntary treatment without addressing the shortage of affordable housing. They argue the plan sidesteps a “Housing First” model widely backed by researchers in favor of a punitive approach that may exacerbate the crisis. The announcement follows a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision permitting municipalities to ban public camping. Federal data show 771,480 people were homeless on a single night in 2024, an 18% jump from the prior year, with roughly 274,224 living unsheltered. The administration has not specified how many treatment beds or how much funding will accompany the order, setting the stage for expected legal and policy battles over its implementation.