Breaking: President Trump Signs Executive Order Reviving Large-Scale Mental Institutions
President Donald Trump has signed a sweeping executive order to revive large-scale mental institutions and asylums, aiming to address urban disorder and homelessness linked to untreated mental illness. This move, highlighted in recent recaps of his first year, has sparked immediate controversy in Washington.
The order directs federal agencies to expand psychiatric bed capacity, reverse judicial barriers to civil commitments, and assist states in institutionalizing individuals with serious mental illness deemed threats to public safety. It builds on earlier actions tying mental health to homelessness reduction, including reallocating funds for treatment over street encampments. Trump referenced personal anecdotes from his first year recap, framing asylums as necessary for restoring order.
Rationale and Goals
Officials describe the policy as pragmatic, targeting vagrancy and violence from untreated conditions amid a national shortage of inpatient beds. Proponents argue it reverses decades of deinstitutionalization, prioritizing long-term care over community-based failures. The White House lists it among 365 achievements, alongside crime drops and expanded detention.
Critics’ Alarms
Critics warn of ethical risks, forced institutionalization echoing past abuses, and violations of medical privacy and due process. Advocacy groups decry it as warehousing, lacking evidence for scaling involuntary commitments nationwide. Legal challenges loom over potential overreach into state mental health systems.
Potential Backlash
The order could face fierce court battles, with precedents like consent decrees targeted for reversal. Politically, it divides along lines of public safety versus civil liberties, igniting debates on power and motives. Next steps include federal grants to states, but implementation details remain unclear.
