sa国际传媒官网网页入口

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at requiring cities to take a more muscular approach to homelessness, mental illness and drug use.

The order calls on U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to redirect federal funding into programs that enforce prohibitions on homeless encampments and 鈥渙pen illicit drug use.鈥� It also takes aim at harm-reduction and safe-space programs that are intended to prevent diseases, overdoses and reduce violence for people who struggle with substance abuse and homelessness.

Advocates for the homeless said Thursday that the order would be impossible to implement in New Mexico, where treatment facilities and shelter beds are in short supply.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a strong enough behavioral health system to accommodate something like what (Trump) is talking about,鈥� said Monet Silva, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness. State lawmakers have made efforts to address the shortage in recent sessions 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 not built,鈥� she said.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 has an estimated 2,740 people experiencing homelessness, compared with a total of 1,284 shelter beds available, according to the organization鈥檚 2024 point-in-time count.

On Thursday, several unhoused people congregating outside homeless service provider HopeWorks didn鈥檛 see how the order would work.

Carlos said it would be difficult to provide drug treatment to sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 unhoused with the state鈥檚 lacking resources. Alex, who said she has been waiting for housing since becoming homeless in 2022, couldn鈥檛 picture the unhoused being forcibly removed from public spaces.

The National Homelessness Law Center, in a statement, called the order a return to 鈥渂ackwards, expensive and ineffective policies鈥� that expand the use of law enforcement and institutionalization to respond to homelessness. 鈥淭his Executive Order is rooted in outdated, racist myths about homelessness and will undoubtedly make homelessness worse,鈥� according to the statement.

sa国际传媒官网网页入口 officials said they have not had time to study Trump鈥檚 order.

鈥淐ity staff will thoroughly review the executive order to determine its specific impacts and how the City intends to protect our unhoused population,鈥� a spokesperson for Mayor Tim Keller鈥檚 office said in a statement.

The Republican Party of New Mexico did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.

Trump鈥檚 order also calls for a more vigorous use of the civil commitment process to direct people with mental health and substance abuse problems into treatment facilities.

The order calls for increased use of civil commitment to ensure that people with mental illness 鈥渨ho pose risks to themselves or the public鈥� are committed to 鈥渁ppropriate facilities for appropriate periods of time.鈥�

Civil commitment, sometimes called involuntary commitment, allows a judge to commit someone into treatment for mental illness against their wishes.

鈥淪hifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order,鈥� the order states.

The order, , said the number of homeless living on the streets in a single night in the U.S. peaked at 274,000 under the Biden Administration and contends that the majority 鈥渁re addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both.鈥� Overall, experts believe there are more than

The order directs Bondi to end legal barriers that would encourage civil commitment of people with mental illness 鈥渨ho pose a risk to themselves or the public.鈥�

New Mexico lawmakers have grappled with the issue of court-supervised treatment for people with mental illness.

Lawmakers scrapped a bill last year intended to expand court-supervised outpatient treatment for people with mental illness. Some lawmakers said that a shortage of behavioral health treatment options in New Mexico is an underlying problem that makes any changes in civil commitment laws difficult to enforce.