“President Trump’s executive order is a wake-up call,” argues Desmond. “We must get people off the streets, into treatment, and give them the chance for a better life.”
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, a Republican candidate for California’s 49th Congressional District, is calling on state leaders to adopt a tougher, more results-driven approach to homelessness—one that mirrors the direction laid out in President Donald Trump’s recent executive order. In a recent press release, Desmond gave special attention to homeless veterans and argued it’s time to “restore order.”
“Too many veterans in San Diego County are sleeping on the streets they sacrificed to protect. That’s unacceptable,” said Desmond, a U.S. Navy veteran. “When someone risks their life for this country, we owe them more than a handshake—we owe them a lifeline.”
Desmond’s comments come as homelessness continues to dominate public discourse in both California and across the nation. Though San Diego County reported a modest 7% decline in homelessness this year—from 10,605 individuals in 2024 to 9,905 in 2025—the crisis remains urgent and unresolved. Nearly 11,000 people were homelessness in the region last year alone, and more than 5,700 county residents still remain unsheltered.
Notably, that population includes a growing number of seniors—a population which now makes up one in three unsheltered individuals. Worse yet, 50% of those seniors are experiencing homelessness for the first time, with a 5% rise in first-time senior homelessness from 2024 to 2025. Individuals living in vehicles also increased by 7%, with a 3% rise in seniors in vehicles.
Nationally, over 274,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night during the final year of the previous administration—a record high. Furthermore, nearly two-thirds of the homeless population report lifetime use of hard drugs such as methamphetamine and opioids, and a similarly high percentage report living with mental illness.
Supervisor Desmond has emphasized that the crisis has nothing to do with a lack of funding; rather, it is fundamentally a policy problem. Indeed, Sacramento has now spent billions but little has been done to solve the root causes due to misguided legislation, regulatory barriers, and a lack of accountability—all of which have caused the issue to spiral out of control and make California the undisputed national leader in homelessness.
“For far too long, our state’s politicians have allowed lawlessness to flourish while turning a blind eye to the suffering of those trapped in mental illness, drug addiction, and despair,” said Desmond. “Allowing people to waste away on our streets is not compassion—it’s neglect.”
The President’s executive order on homelessness, which Desmond said represents a “common-sense” shift in strategy, expands local governments’ ability to move high-risk individuals to treatment centers. It also stops sex offenders from being housed with children, and authorizes special housing for women and children exclusively. To ensure these provisions are enforced, grant funding is prioritized for municipalities that comply with the order.
Desmond’s opponent, Representative Mike Levin, attributes the high rate of homelessness in San Diego County to California’s ongoing housing affordability crisis. While Levin recognizes the effects of untreated mental illness, substance abuse, and addiction, he often ties the solution to building more low-income housing—which itself is not always viable and, historically, does almost nothing to reduce homelessness.
Rep. Levin is now in a bid for his fifth term. The amount of homeless people on the streets of San Diego has increased by nearly 20-25% since he took office in 2019.
“California’s leaders need to stop protecting the status quo and start following through with real solutions that restore order, dignity, and hope,” Demond argues. “President Trump’s executive order is a wake-up call.”
