Trump Should Step in on California's Homeless Crisis [OPINION]

The Trump Administration is reportedly considering a plan to help solve California's homelessness crisis. On any given night, as many as 200,000 or more are forced to find shelter on the streets of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and elsewhere. Families sleep nightly in campers, vans or their cars in shopping center parking lots and along city streets.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says California's 16.4 percent increase in homelessness was "entirely" responsible for the nation's overall increase of 2.7 percent by early this year, according to Breitbart News. Asked about the problem with homelessness and the power outages during fire season, Governor Gavin Newsom told Breitbart, "It is an embarrassment, it is unacceptable. And we’ve got to own it, we’ve got to own up and solve it.”

Experts have suggested that drug addiction and mental illness contribute a great deal to the homeless problem in California. Breitbart says the Trump Administration is considering invoking "federal emergency powers" that would allow it to intervene by "relocating homeless people to treatment centers on federal property."

Liberal policies have created and contributed to California's social woes for decades. California has one of the largest economies in the world and yet for many inhabitants, it resembles a third world country.

Conditions in California threaten the health and safety of its citizens and the rest of the nation. Trump should move to make things right. Unfortunately, many of those elected to represent the citizens of California in Congress – Nancy Pelosi, Diane Feinstein, Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters, and Eric Swalwell, to name a few – have been busy attempting to overthrow the duly elected government and have paid little attention to the conditions that exist in their home state.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.