TNT Statement Denouncing Trump’s Executive Order, “ending crime and disorder on america’s streets”
TNT denounces, in the strongest possible manner, the recent executive order disseminated by the Trump regime claiming to, “End Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.”
This executive order purports to make use of civil commitments to “restore public order,” initially targeting homeless people and substance users. However, the order is vague in its inclusion of, “individuals with mental illness who pose risks to themselves or the public.” This could be anyone who has ever been diagnosed with a mental health condition, or anyone who the government declares a risk to the public. Meaning, this opens the door for anyone and everyone to be targeted for exercising their first amendment rights if the government decides that their speech is a threat to public order.
Civil commitment, more commonly referred to as involuntary commitment, is a process whereby people are forced to undergo treatment when they are at risk of harming themselves or others. It’s a contentious subject at the best of times, with activists and survivors pointing to paternalistic attitudes within these settings, lack of access to the things that make life meaningful, and a complete lack of bodily autonomy. Even for those who are suicidal or deeply distressed who might find this treatment helpful, there’s a lack of available and humane resources that actually address clinical needs.
In this executive order, the Trump regime points to civil commitment or, “other available means,” in its claims to, “restore public order.” With the explosion of ICE funding in the recent federal budget – an additional 45 BILLION dollars on detention capacity – this order could very easily be used to send citizen protesters to the same concentration camps that undocumented (and documented) immigrants are being sent to. All without due process.
In our country, we have a sordid history of using psychiatric terms like, “schizophrenia,” to silence Black activists during the Civil Rights period, or, “drapetomania,” to pathologize enslaved people’s desire to be free, or the uses of, “bipolar,” and, “borderline,” to silence survivors of sexual violence. This isn’t new.
In fact, here in Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker has gotten a head start on the Trump regime with violent sweeps of homeless encampments and the recent passage of a bill aiming to curtail mobile services provision. The provision of mobile services by harm reduction organizations is imperative in maintaining the safety and dignity of our houseless neighbors. Mayor Parker claims that people will be offered alternative appropriate services, but we at TNT know from our work that these services don’t currently exist at the scale that is needed. Where do people end up? Displaced and imprisoned.
Both Trump and Parker claim to want, “law and order,” but what their actions point to is a desire to get rid of people who they view as, “less than,” and to trample on their rights in the process. It is clear that we must oppose both of their efforts in the clearest and strongest possible terms, and mobilize to support and protect our neighbors.
In contrast to the harms enacted by our current political leaders: humane, research supported treatment involves:
safe use sites for substances, with bathroom access and medical personnel available to respond in case of overdoses
decriminalizing the substances that people are persecuted for using
providing people access to housing and other necessities without means testing or surveillance
a healthcare for all solution that will fund outpatient mental health and substance use services for people to engage with of their own free will