President Trump signed an executive order on Friday instructing the Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a National Warrior Independence Center for Homeless Veterans on a campus in West Los Angeles.
The order sets the target of housing up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center and “mandates federal agencies to ensure that funds that could have been spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens are redirected to build, establish and maintain it.
Trump ordered Secretary Doug Collins to prepare an action plan for the creation of the housing by January 1, 2028. He also ordered Collins to report “options such as expanding opening hours, providing weekend appointments, and increasing use of virtual healthcare” within 60 days.
“There are too many veterans in America,” the order said. “Each veteran deserves us to be grateful, but the federal government doesn’t always treat veterans like heroes like them.”
Trump criticized the Biden administration for “betraying taxpayers who are embarrassed and who need the most help and who expect legitimate and better expectations.”
The order comes at a significant moment in the litigation trajectory surrounding the management of the VA’s campus. We anticipate a decision from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a federal judge’s ruling that the VA failed its fiduciary duty to provide housing to veterans. US District Judge David O. Carter ordered the VA to quickly create approximately 100 temporary housing units on a 388-acre campus, with more than 2,000 permanent and temporary housing units in total. He also voided some leases on the property to private organizations, including UCLA and private schools.
The VA appealed to the decision that costs would irreparably hurt other services to veterans, along with other legal arguments.
The immediate impact on the incident was unknown, but veterans made it a positive sign.
“Many veterans I’ve spoken to have taken this position on the West Los Angeles VA. “To know that there was an executive order signed for more housing in the VA Land, that’s a big win for us. That’s something the vets have fought for years.”
The Veterans Group is a development and service partnership with a VA contract to build approximately 1,200 units of support housing on campus, and is looking forward to welcoming it to campus soon, with a statement saying it “eagerly praises President Trump’s plan for the National Center for Homeless Veterans.”
The group said it is working to complete 1,200 units by the end of Trump’s term.
“With more than 1,000 veterans already living on campus today, it would be a great opportunity for them to meet with their commanders,” the statement said. “He will also be the first president to see our progress.”
Another veteran, who was critical of the VA’s handling of campus development, was even more wary.
“The president’s executive order is correct, but it’s not right yet,” says Anthony Allman, a nonprofit created to oversee the development of a master plan that arose from previous lawsuits.
Allman argues that the masterplan requires more than just housing, and envisions a centre of activities and services for veterans on and off campus.
“We look forward to working with the administration to do the right thing that is available to veterans of historic Pacific branch property,” Allman said, using the historical names of disabled soldiers created in the 19th century.
The lengthy preamble portrayed its early history through the closure of veterans’ homes in the 1970s, through the inappropriate leases of veterans’ land that led to two lawsuits.
“While the campus once housed a chapel, a Billiard Hall and a 1,000-seat theatre that housed around 6,000 veterans, the federal government has allowed this veteran care crown gem to get worse over the last few decades,” he said. “The Bureau of Veterans Affairs is well below the University of California baseball team in Los Angeles, sometimes a market price.
“As of 2024, Los Angeles had around 3,000 homeless veterans, more than any other city in the country, making up about 10 percent of American homeless veterans. Many of these heroes live in Los Angeles’ infamous “Skid Row.” ”
Trump called for more accountability and ordered Collins to “revive resales and resurrections of employees who were previously fired for fraud and to correct their decision to take appropriate action against individuals who committed fraud.
The order also called for an action plan to expand Manchester VA Medical Center in New Hampshire into a full-service medical center.
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