HUD Announces Largest Decrease in Homelessness
President Trump’s Policies to Close the Border and Restore Safety Deliver for Communities
November 6, 2026
WASHINGTON - Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the largest decrease in homelessness on record in American history.
According to data from the 2026 nationwide Point-in-Time (PIT) count, 698,425 individuals were homeless on a single night in January, a 6.3% decrease since President Trump took office in 2025. This follows historic border control and a Supreme Court victory reaffirming the right of local governments to limit dangerous encampments.
Under the Biden Administration's Housing First mandate, homelessness increased 28% from 2022 to 2025. This is why HUD is dispensing with this harmful approach and implementing Treatment First policies to help Americans tackle addiction.
“President Trump’s actions to secure the border, get criminal illegals off our streets, and restore safety to our communities drove a historic decrease in homelessness,” said Secretary Turner. “However, after a decade of failed Housing First policies, homelessness remains near a historic high. Clearly, there is more work to do. HUD is rejecting the addiction-fueled depravity seen from LA’s Skid Row to New York’s ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ and moving to Treatment First to restore lives of self-sufficiency.”
Under the Biden Administration’s open border policies, illegal immigrants filled America’s homeless shelters and homelessness increased largely in states with Sanctuary City policies like New York, Illinois, California, and Massachusetts.
In July 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order on “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets," which empowered HUD to tackle substance abuse as part of addressing homelessness and protecting public safety, shifting from the failed Housing First policies.
In June, Secretary Scott Turner announced the most competitive homelessness assistance funding in history to invest in approaches that deliver results and received a record-setting 3,700 new applications from across the country.
In August, he rolled out the “Best Practices Toolkit: Addressing Homelessness and Addiction through Treatment First” alongside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
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