President Trump signed an executive order Friday directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a center for homeless veterans on its West Los Angeles campus.
The order sets a goal to accommodate up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center and orders federal agencies to “ensure that funds that may be used for housing or other illegal foreigners’ services are redirected to establish, build and maintain.”
Trump ordered VA secretary Doug Collins to prepare an action plan to build housing by January 1, 2028. He also ordered Collins to report “options such as expanding office hours, offering weekend appointments, and increasing options for virtual health care” within 60 days.
“In the United States, too many veterans are homeless,” the order said. “Every veteran deserves our gratitude. But the federal government doesn’t always treat veterans like they do.”
Trump criticized the Biden administration for “shamedly, when veterans need most of their help and betray the taxpayers who are rightly expected, they fail.”
The order was in the litigation, and was a critical moment in the management of campuses in Virginia. Any day of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling against a federal judge is expected to be expected that Virginia’s failure to provide housing for veterans. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered VA to immediately create about 100 temporary housing units on the 388-acre campus and build a total of more than 2,000 permanent and temporary housing units. He also voided the leases of parts of the land, including UCLA and a private school.
Virginia, among other legal arguments, has made a sarcastic decision that costs will not be feasible to harm other services to veterans.
Although the direct impact on the case is unclear, veterans see it as a positive signal.
“Many of the veterans I’ve spoken with so far are happy to see that the White House has already held positions in West Los Angeles Virginia,” said Iraq War veteran Rob Reynolds. “Just knowing there is an executive order that signs more housing on VA land, which is a huge win for us. It’s something that veterinarians have been fighting for years.”
The veterans collective is a development and service partnership, which signed a VA contract to build about 1,200 support housing on campus and issued a statement saying “feeling applauding President Trump’s plan for the National Homeless Veterans Center” and expressed hope to welcome him to campus soon.
It said the group is working to complete 1,200 units by the end of Trump’s term.
“There are more than 1,000 veterans living on campus today, and it will be a great opportunity for them to meet with the Commander-in-Chief,” the statement said. “He will also be the first president to see our progress.”
Another veteran who criticized VA for protecting campus development was even more protective.
“The president’s executive order is one Right but not yet this Anthony Allman, executive of Veterinary Advocacy, said it is a nonprofit that aims to monitor the development of master plans that stem from early litigation.
Allman argues that the master plan not only requires housing, but also envisions activities and service centers for veterans on and off campus.
“We look forward to working with the government to make the right thing – architecture, community, workforce development – available to veterans in the historic Pacific branch property,” Allman uses the historical name of the Disabled Soldier House, which was created there in the 19th century.
In a long preamble, the order describes early history through the closure of veteran housing in the 1970s to make veteran land improper leases, which led to two lawsuits.
“The campus used to have a church, billiards hall, a 1,000-seat theater, and has about 6,000 veterans, but since then the federal government has allowed this veteran care champion to worsen over the past few decades,” it said. “The Department of Veterans Affairs rented a portion of the property to private schools, private companies and UCLA baseball teams, sometimes below market prices.
“As of 2024, there were about 3,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles, more than any other city in the country, and about 10% of all homeless veterans in the United States. Many of these heroes live in Los Angeles’ infamous “notorious” speid Row.
Trump calls for more accountability, ordering Collins to correct the Biden administration’s decision to “rehire and restore payrolls for employees previously fired for misconduct” and take appropriate action against individuals who commit misconduct. ”
The order also requires a plan of action to extend the Virginia Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire into a full-service medical center “so that it is no longer a state that is no longer a continuous U.S..”
