California leaders react to Trump's executive order aimed at removing homeless people from streets

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at making it easier for cities and states to remove homeless people from the streets.

The order is aimed at removing "vagrant individuals from our streets" and redirects federal funds toward "programs that tackle substance abuse," according to a fact sheet about the action.

The order directs the attorney general to "reverse judicial precedents and end consent decrees" that limit the ability of local governments to remove people from the streets and to "prioritize grants for states and municipalities that enforce prohibitions on open illicit drug use, urban camping and loitering, and urban squatting, and track the location of sex offenders."

It also redirects federal funds to help homeless people get moved into treatment facilities.

U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, a vocal supporter of Trump, spoke with Eyewitness News Thursday and described the order as an incentive for cities, and he doesn't anticipate too much push back.

"There was a Supreme Court case that really tied the hands of local government to enforce a lot of the anti-camping laws," he said. "That case has been overturned, so there's no more legal excuse to not doing it. It's just a matter of will, and the city of L.A. should get going on this."

However, there is criticism.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's office released a statement Thursday saying that last year, Newsom issued an executive order addressing encampments that was "based on the law and the facts, not harmful stereotypes and ineffective public policy."

"Like so many of Trump's executive orders, this order is more focused on creating distracting headlines and settling old scores than producing any positive impact," read the statement. "But, his imitation (even poorly executed) is the highest form of flattery."

Last week, new data on homelessness showed the number of homeless people in the L.A. region has declined for the second year in a row.

However, that's not to minimize the crisis.

In the city of L.A., that number is more than 43,000 and for the county, it's more than 72,000.

ABC News contributed to this report.