WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Trump administration has ordered White House officials to come up with a solution to the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles, but local officials and democratic lawmakers are skeptical over what exactly that could mean.
The Washington Post reports an option could include moving homeless people into federal government facilities and California democratic lawmakers aren’t happy. They are wary that the administration hasn’t thought enough before acting.
Congresswoman Katie Hill of the 25th District, who represents an area that spans from Lake Los Angeles in the east to Simi Valley in the west, is the former Executive Director of the People Assisting the Homeless, the largest nonprofit in the state to help the homeless population.
Hill said the government needs to address complicated issues like mental health, the criminal justice system, and the foster care system to adequately help the homeless population.
“There is no way, that you can simplify it into saying that oh we just need to round people up and put them somewhere else like that is, it doesn’t make any sense, it’s not even acknowledging that we’re talking about human beings,” said Hill. “Trump coming in and acting like he knows the first thing about homelessness, is mind boggling in the first place, and then it shows… what has he thought through?”
Hill said L.A. doesn’t have enough support services or resources to achieve long term stability, and would like more federal help on that.
Other than moving people to government buildings, the Washington Post said the administrations options could also mean destroying encampments.
Trump administrators said the president is just trying to fight the homelessness crisis across the nation and since L.A. has a surging rate of homelessness they would focus their efforts there first. They visited the Los Angeles area on Tuesday to see firsthand the homeless community. The President could be visiting L.A. next week.