President-elect Donald Trump has a strategy to tackle the homeless crisis at the national level. He pitched his plan during his campaign, but the question now is: will it happen? And if it does, how will it affect communities here in the Northwest? Trump outlined his vision last year on his "Agenda 47" website.
"Our once-great cities have become unlivable, unsanitary nightmares surrendered to the homeless, the drug-addicted, and the violent and dangerously deranged," said Trump. "The homeless have no right to turn every park and sidewalk into a place for them to squat and do drugs. Americans should not have to step over piles of needles and waste as they walk down the street."
"Violators of these bans will be arrested, but they will be given the option to accept treatment and services if they are willing to be rehabilitated," said Trump. "Many of them don't want that, but we will give them the option."
Trump has talked a lot about what's happening in West Coast cities, including Portland.
Now that he's President-elect, his plan could be put into play in a matter of months, pushing aside housing-first policies for his treatment-first model.
That's causing a lot of anxiety among local homeless advocates.
"I think when President Trump gets around to pushing forward on this agenda item, that he's going to find a lot of sympathetic ears on the West Coast to this sort of lock 'em all up plan that he toyed with during his first administration," says Jimmy Jones.
Jones is the Executive Director of the Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency, a Salem-based social services organization. He says this isn't a Trump problem. Jones says it matters less who's driving the car when it's headed down the same road, and that road is criminalizing homelessness.
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