Radio Cadena Agramonte emisiora de Camagüey
Washington, August 11.- Following President Donald Trump's announcement of an increased presence of federal agents in this capital, another order has now arrived: send the homeless far away, and immediately.
Trump will give a press conference on Monday morning where he is expected to discuss his plans which will focus on the issue of cleanliness, general physical renewal and the state of our once beautiful and well-kept capital.
On his Truth Social network, the president wrote a series of messages the day before in which he demanded that the so-called homeless be removed from the public eye.
The homeless need to move immediately. We will house them, but FAR from the capital. Criminals don't need to move. We will put them in jail, where they belong, he emphasized.
Regarding Muriel Bowser, the city's mayor, he said that she is a good person who has tried, but she has had many opportunities, and the crime rates are getting worse.
Starting last Friday, the Republican administration began implementing a reinforced presence of federal law enforcement, using as a pretext the alleged assault of a former member of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), whose car someone tried to steal.
Commenting that crime in the capital is completely out of control, he suggested a federal takeover of Washington if the city's local government doesn't get organized, and quickly.
But the idea of federalizing Washington is not new to Trump. The president may not have the authority completely unless Congress repeals a 1973 law that gave city residents the power to elect their own mayor and municipal council.
Despite Trump's views, local police data indicates that violent crime in Washington, DC, has declined over the past year and a half, reaching its lowest level in three decades in 2024, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Meanwhile, approximately 5,138 people are homeless in DC, a nine percent year-over-year decrease, according to a report by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
Trump signed an executive order in July requiring the DOJ to reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees that limit state and local governments' ability to house homeless people who pose a risk to themselves or others.
He also directed federal agencies to prioritize grants to cities that "enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping, and loitering", a move that drew criticism from the National Homeless Law Center. (Text and photo: PL)
