Louisiana state legislature advances bill criminalizing homelessness

BATON ROUGE, La.—On April 15, the Louisiana House of Representatives joined the war on homeless people by making unauthorized sleeping in public places a crime. HB 211, known as the Streets to Success Act, passed by a vote of 70 to 28. It is now on its way to the state Senate.

Proposed by State Rep. Debbie Villio and supported by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry—citing President Donald Trump’s policies aimed at the homeless—the bill imposes a mandatory fine of $500 and a minimum six-months prison sentence for violators.

On July 24, 2025, Trump issued an executive order to “prioritize available funding to support the expansion of drug courts and mental health courts for individuals for which such diversion serves public safety.” However, critics have stated that the executive order has enabled state actors to use force against the homeless population rather than aid in economic and personal recovery.

The National Homelessness Law Center (NHLC) has branded HB 211 “one of the cruelest anti-homeless bills” in the United States. The group has cataloged numerous government attacks on the homeless recently.

Lawyers from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs have been deputized “to strip homeless veterans of their rights and autonomy.” A congressional hearing surfaced internal documents showing the VA’s true intention, NHLC said: “to take away rights from homeless veterans to make decisions about their own lives.”