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On July 24, President Trump signed an executive order that calls for expanding the use of civil commitment, making it easier to institutionalize people with disabilities, and ending programs that are proven to give people the supports they need to live in the community. ASAN condemns this action by the president and calls for all policymakers at every level of government to ensure that the rights of disabled people, including those of us who are housing insecure or homeless, are protected. This includes the right to live in the community with the supports we need to live independently, instead of being imprisoned in institutions against our will. In his executive order, President Trump blamed homeless people and people with mental health disabilities for crime and disorder. This is a lie. Violent crimes, like murder, are less common in America than they were a few decades ago. They are becoming increasingly rare. Violence still happens sometimes. This is tragic, but it is not caused by unhoused or disabled people. Homeless people and people with mental health disabilities are much more likely to be the victims of violent crimes than to commit them. President Trump’s claims about people who are homeless and his claims about people with disabilities are extremely dangerous to our communities. They make us more likely to experience violence, both from strangers and police. The executive order goes on to say that homeless people with disabilities should be forcibly institutionalized. It says that the Department of Justice should try to get the law changed to make it easier to put people in institutions against their will. It says that the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services should help state and local governments use more institutionalization and forced treatment. The order claimed that programs that help make sure homeless people have stable, safe housing without forcing them into treatment first don’t work and that administration departments should make cities and states stop supporting them. This also is not true. People need safe, stable housing to be able to get health care that they need, and forcing people into treatment does not work. President Trump wants to force cities and states to stop programs that are proven to help folks who need housing, and make it easier to imprison disabled people in institutions instead. These policies will harm the poorest among us, and especially those of us with disabilities and people of color, and will leave us less safe, less-securely housed, and more in crisis than ever. President Trump’s call for reversing the laws that protect our rights in order to make it easier to institutionalize us is especially dangerous to our community. People with disabilities were imprisoned in institutions for hundreds of years. Institutions have never helped disabled people be healthy or safe. Institutions are harmful to us. Institutions neglect and abuse us. Institutions are not a way to stop violence because they are violent places. We have a right to live in the community instead, and Congress has passed laws to protect that right. President Trump wants to undo all of the progress we have fought for. ASAN calls for a reversal of this executive order. The administration should be ashamed for its blatant disregard for the well-being of vulnerable people, public health, United States law, and civil rights history. ASAN remains committed to protecting our right to live in the community. We will continue to share ways that our community can demand that elected officials do their job and protect our rights. Nothing about us without all of us. No exceptions. The Autistic Self Advocacy Network seeks to advance the principles of the disability rights movement with regard to autism. ASAN believes that the goal of autism advocacy should be a world in which autistic people enjoy equal access, rights, and opportunities. We work to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us. Nothing About Us, Without Us!
Autistic Self Advocacy Network PO Box 66122
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