“Shifting homeless individuals into long-term institutional settings for humane treatment through the appropriate use of civil commitment will restore public order. Surrendering our cities and citizens to disorder and fear is neither compassionate to the homeless nor other citizens. My Administration will take a new approach focused on protecting public safety.”
As a rural City Administrator who has to deal with the scourge of fentanyl, meth, and cocaine in my small town on at least a weekly basis, President Trump’s executive order “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets” is music to my ears. Substance abuse is a public health issue, and law enforcement is often not equipped to deal with public health. Police officers are best prepared to deal with drugs at the source, eliminating the drug trade and violent crime that goes with it. Individuals with addiction should be treated by recovery institutions, forcefully if need be, which is often the case for a malady that convinces the victim that they do not need help.
The executive order has four main objectives:
- Restoring Civil Commitment
- Fighting Vagrancy on America’s Streets
- Redirecting Federal Resources Toward Effective Methods of Addressing Homelessness
- Increasing Accountability and Safety in America’s Homelessness Programs
The first three objectives are under the purview of Attorney General Pam Bondi and Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. These two cabinet officials will collaborate to seek the reversal of federal and state case law that impedes civil commitment for individuals burdened by mental illness and the housing crisis. Attorney General Bondi and Secretary Kennedy will also prioritize discretionary grant funding for States and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting. Years after the bogus decision in Martin v. Boise led Oregon to foist anti-safety public camping laws on cities, Trump is now presenting state legislators with a powerful ultimatum: make Beaver State streets safe again, or lose critical federal funding. Your move, Governor Tina Kotek – are safe cities more important to you than campaign donations? (I think not, but I’ll give her through the 2026 legislative session to prove me wrong.)
Bondi and Kennedy receive further matching orders to assist in actively addressing homelessness. The US Department of Justice will prioritize funding to expand drug courts and mental health courts. Health & Human Services will ensure that discretionary grants issued by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery fund evidence-based programs and do not fund programs that fail to achieve adequate outcomes. HHS will provide technical assistance to programs that support an individual from the recovery process all the way through finding their own housing, as well as ensure that federal funds reduce homeless rather than promote it. Lastly, HHS, DOJ, and the Department of Housing & Urban Development are directed to collaborate in ensuring that homeless service programs are accountable.
Oregon’s liberal elites spew vapid pathos all about compassion, an important factor that should drive all efforts to deal with substance abuse and homelessness. Measure 110 went the opposite direction, enriching violent drug cartels at the cost of accountability for substance abuse disorder victims who needed real assistance. Anyone who wants to end homelessness, combat drug abuse, and destroy the cartels should celebrate President Donald Trump’s firm but compassionate leadership on one of America’s greatest current moral failings. I beseech Governor Kotek, Senate President Rob Wagner, and House Speaker Julie Fahey more directly: spend the 2026 legislative session working to align with President Trump’s executive order. When your donors ask why you are working with the President to truly address substance abuse and homelessness, ask why they prefer to make the drug cartels rich. The donor class does not have a real alternative to President Trump’s initiatives, just deep pockets filled by politicians who lust for the campaign donations they receive for making Oregon worse.
Editor’s Note
Alex McHaddad is the City Administrator of Elgin, Oregon, the only elected City Administrator position in the Beaver State. This editorial reflects his own opinions and does not reflect an official policy position of the City of Elgin.
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