1. United States
2. Iowa
3. Letter

I am writing as a concerned citizen to urge you to take immediate action against President Donald Trump’s Executive Order # 2025-14391, “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” signed July 24, 2025. This order authorizes the forced confinement of homeless and mentally ill Americans, directs federal agencies to “review and reverse judicial precedents” protecting civil rights, and diverts federal funds away from proven housing and community-care programs. These measures create the framework for a permanent underclass — citizens stripped of liberty and dignity under the pretext of “public order.” The language of “cleaning up the streets” has a long and troubling history, echoing eras when poverty and disability were treated as crimes rather than human conditions deserving compassion and care. This executive order is not simply ill-advised; it is unconstitutional. It violates: • The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which guarantee due process and equal protection under the law. • The Eighth Amendment, prohibiting cruel and unusual punishment. • The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Supreme Court’s Olmstead v. L.C. (1999) decision affirming the right to live in the least restrictive environment possible. No president may overturn constitutional precedent by decree. Such actions erode the separation of powers and place executive authority above the rule of law — a hallmark of authoritarianism, not democracy. I urge you, as my elected representative, to: 1. Publicly condemn Executive Order # 2025-14391 and call for its immediate withdrawal. 2. Request congressional hearings on its legality, cost, and impact on civil and disability rights. 3. Support legislation that protects housing access, voluntary treatment, and evidence-based community support instead of forced institutionalization. 4. Affirm publicly that poverty, illness, and homelessness are not crimes, and that America must never again use confinement as a substitute for care. Americans of every state and party deserve leaders who defend constitutional freedoms and basic human dignity. Silence in the face of this order is complicity. I urge you to speak out now, clearly and publicly, against this policy and in defense of the principles that define our nation.