Welcome back to The Weekly Wrap, our Friday roundup of stories that explain the problems oppressing people in cities and elevate the solutions that bring us closer to economic, environmental and social justice.

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Trump Admin Eviscerates Federal Homelessness Agency

Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency effectively shut down the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness – the small agency tasked with coordinating federal homelessness aid to cities and localities — by placing the entire staff on administrative leave.

The $4 million agency has been at the helm of reductions in unsheltered and veteran homelessness through the evidence-based Housing First model. But that approach, once a bipartisan one, is increasingly under fire by the right. Analysts say the administration’s gutting of the USICH is a clear signal of a new direction on homelessness policy.

Chicago City Council Punts on Anti-Pollution Industrial Zoning Law

In 2023, federal housing officials concluded that Chicago officials had discriminated against nonwhite residents by deliberately moving polluting businesses into low-income Black and Brown communities. A settlement required the city to factor potential pollution to overburdened communities in its future planning and zoning decisions.

To fulfill this mandate, Mayor Brandon Johnson this week introduced the Hazel Johnson Cumulative Impacts Ordinance, which would transform where heavy industry can operate and show how local governments can advance environmental justice under Trump. But the ordinance stalled in city council and has been referred to the rules committee.

Trump is Deputizing Local Police As Immigration Enforcers

The Markup reports that the number of partnerships between state and local police agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has doubled since January, with more than 10 million Americans living in a county with an immigration delegation agreement.

Experts say the rapidly expanding program is “costly, ripe for civil rights abuses, and lacks oversight and transparency.” The program includes three levels of participation — most famously the Task Force Model, which deputizes local officers to act as de facto ICE agents and is currently being implemented in every single Florida county.

Meanwhile, New York’s city council has sued Mayor Eric Adams in an attempt to block him from allowing federal immigration agents to open an office at the Rikers Island jail complex.

With Tariff Wars, Another Bailout to Farmers Seems ‘Inevitable’

Trump’s last trade war required a $23 billion taxpayer-funded bailout for farmers in 2018 and 2019. Now, smaller-scale farmers tell The Guardian that they’ll need another major bailout to survive a perfect storm of extreme weather, another trade war, mass terminations of USDA workers, slashing of federal programs and more. Indeed, Trump this week boasted about his previous bailout and has promised relief to farmers.

Tariffs on exports to China and Mexico could cut farmers off from these foreign markets, which are major purchasers of cotton, soybeans, sorghum, wheat and more. Trump’s cuts to local food programs and dismantling of the USAID are reducing farmers’ core domestic markets. Recent extreme weather is causing millions in crop losses, but climate and conservation programs that improve agricultural practices are only being defunded.

“It’s all happening so fast and in the middle of the growing season,” Ben Lilliston of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy told the Guardian. “Another bailout seems inevitable but there are serious questions about how quickly it could be implemented with such a dysfunctional Congress, local USDA offices shuttered and fewer staff.”

DOJ’s Civil Rights Litigation Freeze Threatens Police Reform Progress

The Department of Justice’s January freeze on civil rights litigation could halt critical police reform efforts in at least 10 law enforcement agencies where previous DOJ reports had found patterns of serious misconduct and abuse, an analysis by ProPublica found.

DOJ findings had included “unjustified killings, excessive force, debtors’ prisons, retaliation against police critics, racial discrimination, unlawful strip searches and officers having sexual contact with sex workers during undercover operations,” ProPublica reports. But rather than these reports leading to federal oversight and court-ordered reform, reform efforts will now be left to localities.

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MORE NEWS

• How states and cities might repel Trump’s police state crimes. The American Prospect

• Proposed SNAP cuts could pressure low-income shoppers — and retailers that serve them. CNBC

• Federal judge blocks Trump’s revocation of CHNV parole program for over half a million immigrants. Documented

• Supreme Court to hear arguments in May in challenge to Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship. CNN

• Farmers hit by Trump’s tariffs and cuts say they need another bailout. The Guardian

• Israeli defense minister: Troops will remain in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely. AP

• Trump is spending billions on border security. Some residents living there lack basic resources. ProPublica

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES

• DEADLINE TODAY: The National Low Income Housing Coalition is recruiting for its Our Homes, Our Votes Tenant Fellowship, which aims to increase voter turnout among low-income renters and elevate housing as an election issue. Apply by April 18.

• Fulbright New Zealand’s Ian Axford Fellowships in Public Policy program is accepting applications to help increase mutual understanding between America and New Zealand. Apply by April 22.

• Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is recruiting for its Vibrant Communities Fellows Program, which is focusing on land and water planning. Apply by April 27.

• The National Community Reinvestment Coalition is accepting applications for its Fellowship for Equitable Development. Apply by April 30.

• The Tow Foundation’s Innovation Fund is open to proposals from organizations advancing youth mental health in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York or Pennsylvania. Attend a May 7 info session and apply by May 23.

• Check out Next City’s jobs board for new opportunities.

EVENTS

• April 22 at 1 p.m. Eastern: UC Berkeley’s Terner Center is hosting a webinar on how permanent supportive housing providers can use California’s CalAIM (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal) funding to expand their services.

• April 24 at 12 p.m. Eastern: Jamii Linguists and Resonance Network are hosting a workshop about resilience in movement work.

This post was originally published on Next City.