The order directs the revitalization of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which aims to help veterans regain self-sufficiency.
President Donald Trump took an enforcement action on May 9th, directed at fulfilling his campaign promises to improve the lives of American veterans.
“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 crown jewel of veteran care to get worse over the last few decades,” the president wrote in turn.
He went on to say that the VA division leased some of the property to private companies, private schools and UCLA baseball teams, sometimes at sub-market prices.
“As of 2024, Los Angeles had around 3,000 homeless veterans, more than any other city in the country, making up about 10% of American homeless veterans,” he wrote. “Many of these heroes live in Los Angeles’ infamous “Skid Row” scalars. ”
The order will instruct the VA secretary to present a plan of action within 120 days of recovering the Centre’s housing capacity to 6,000 homeless veterans by January 1, 2028, and meet other directives.
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These directives include ensuring that homeless veterans outside the Los Angeles metropolitan area have access to the center, ensuring that funds that could have been spent on housing or other services due to illegal immigration will be redirected to establish, construct, and maintain the center by coordinating with the health, human resources and urban development secretaries.
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development has been instructed to distribute vouchers to support this effort.
The order at its heart dictates the VA department to “attempt to restore self-sufficiency and warrior spirit among homeless veterans through the guidance, requirements or services necessary to enable homeless veterans to access housing, receive treatment for substance abuse or addiction, and return to productive work and community engagement.
The order is based on Trump’s first term of office that expands accountability in the VA department, expands veteran benefits, and orders “perfect actions against individuals who have made the most of the VA’s Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act and commits appropriate actions accordingly.”
The order also directs VA secretaries to develop plans that will benefit the department even more, such as reducing wait times, increasing opening hours and increasing opportunities for appointments.
