Friday, August 1, 2025

Trump's next crackdown

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This is America

Stories of justice and action across America

Fri Aug 1 2025

Happy Friday, and welcome to this week's edition of This Is America, a newsletter about society and justice in America.

Trump's next crackdown: Locking up the homeless

Hey there, folks. It's Phillip.

At a time when many Americans are "one crisis away from homelessness," according to experts, the Trump administration is ditching the "housing first" model that advocates argue works best.

Instead, it is turning toward a get-tough posture.

James Anderson, 53, braces his tent against a coming snowstorm in Fort Collins, Colorado, while staying in an encampment at a shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes, Trevor Hughes / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

President Donald Trump signed a new executive order that calls for more "involuntary commitment", which would give mental health workers the power to forcibly detain and medicate people against their will.

•	Trump has called out messy encampments in mostly Democratic-controlled cities, but he's especially aggravated by ones near the White House: "When leaders come to see me to make a trade deal for billions and billions and even trillions of dollars and they come and there's tents outside the White House. You can't have that."
•	Jesse Rabinowitz, a spokesman and social worker for the National Homelessness Law Center, says Trump's moves will worsen the situation, especially without new funding to help those living on the streets: "The goal is to help them to get well and, in almost every case, help them return to living among their brothers and sisters in society."
•	Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is among the local leaders who also see it that way. He's pouring $40 million into new services, including an upgrade to shelters , which is the city's largest public investment ever. "With this historic investment, we are making our shelters more accessible, more dignified, and ultimately, more effective at helping Chicagoans in need," he said.

NYC's tragic shooting and the NFL's troubling history

A deadly shooting this week once again put the spotlight on the National Football League, specifically how the organization handles head trauma.

•	New York police say Shane Tamura, a 27-year-old Las Vegas resident who played high school football in the Los Angeles area , killed four people Monday evening at 345 Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan, before turning the gun on himself.
•	Tamura, who had targeted the NFL's headquarters but took the wrong elevator to a different part of the building, left a note claiming he had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), according to New York Mayor Eric Adams.
•	CTE is a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head.

The NFL has acknowledged the dangers of head trauma and curbed its rules to protect players. But that wasn't always the case.

Read more about the NFL's troubling history with long-term brain injuries.

Thanks for reading with us!

Phillip will be back next week with more stories of belonging and diversity from across the country. Find him on social @phillipmbailey.

However, this will be Savannah's last newsletter, as she leaves USA TODAY for a new opportunity. She will deeply miss working with Phillip and popping up in readers' inboxes each week.