In a move cheered by longtime champions across the country, President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order to transform the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Campus into the nation’s largest center of homeless veteran treatment. The campus will be designated the National Center for Warrior Independence and is expected to become a one-stop shop for help for thousands of veterans.
The center will provide a range of services, including healthcare, housing, mental health and alcohol abuse services, job training, and other social services aimed at empowering veterans to become long-term independent and stable.
Redirecting funds to assist veterans
According to a White House statement, the project will be funded through the reallocation of funds previously allocated to illegal alien housing and services. Such funds will instead be utilized for the building and upkeep of the new center for veterans.
“Funds heretofore expended for housing or other services for illegal aliens will be reallocated to build, establish, and maintain this Center,” the White House announced.
The bold plan calls for housing up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the complex by the year 2028.
Restoring accountability at the VA
The executive order also includes provisions for improving internal accountability in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs has been directed to discipline individuals convicted of misconduct and to investigate decisions made by the previous administration to rehire employees who had previously been terminated for improper behavior.
“President Trump has no question that all of our veterans deserve our appreciation and that the federal government needs to treat the veterans like the heroes they are,” the release said.
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A legal battle over the use of VA land
The order comes as the VA is still fighting court challenges against the use of the 388-acre West LA campus. For decades, enormous portions of the property have been leased to non-veteran entities such as a private school and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) baseball team. A 2024 court ruling ordered the VA to build nearly 2,000 permanent housing units on the property for homeless and disabled veterans.
The VA appealed the ruling but has spoken of the need for reform. “For decades of mismanagement, VA rented parts of its West Los Angeles VA Medical Center campus to a rich and elitist private school and the UCLA baseball team,” the VA said in a statement. “Today’s executive order will enable us to make sure the campus is being used for what it was intended: to serve veterans.”
A beacon of hope for the future
VA officials explained that the plan is to redevelop the West LA campus into a “beacon of hope” for homeless veterans across the United States. Veterans will be able to travel there to be given housing, health care, and services to assist them along the path toward self-sufficiency.
This is a significant shift in federal policy with regard to housing veterans and a renewed focus on serving those who have served the nation.
