Thursday, September 4, 2025
31.1 C
New Delhi

Trump’s crackdown on DC homeless encampments begins

WASHINGTON – Under the blazing summer sun, people living in Washington’s homeless encampments packed up their belongings before authorities moved in with garbage trucks on Aug. 14, as President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the nation’s capital ramps up.

At an encampment a few miles from the Lincoln Memorial and the Kennedy Center, a group of a dozen people broke down their tents and stuffed their clothes in garbage bags with the help of city workers and local homeless advocacy groups. The tents that remained – and everything in them – were soon bulldozed and taken to a landfill.

“(The president) is targeting us and persecuting us,” said David Beatty, a homeless man living in the encampment that Trump posted a photo of on social media last week. “He wants to take our freedom away.”

Advertisement

Advertisement

The moves come days after Trump assumed federal control of the city’s police department and mobilized the National Guard, declaring a “crime emergency” and vowing to clear homeless people off the streets of DC. As more federal agents and National Guard troops are brought into Washington, local officials and social workers have sought to get ahead of the anticipated operations.

The push to clear encampments also comes as cities across the United States, including longtime Democratic strongholds such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, have also seen an increase in homeless sweeps and encampment closures.

A landmark 2024 Supreme Court decision that allowed laws banning people from sleeping outside, even if they have nowhere else to go, led to a broad crackdown on homelessness in California, and in dozens of cities, towns and rural communities nationwide.

David Beatty and other residents of a homeless encampment near the Kennedy Center in Washington clear their tents with the help of advocates.

David Beatty and other residents of a homeless encampment near the Kennedy Center in Washington clear their tents with the help of advocates.

City boosts shelter space as encampments are broken up

In mid-August, workers with the DC Department of Human Services visited each of the known encampments, warning of the impending crackdown and offering residents beds in local shelters and storage space.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The speedy operations came with little warning and have left the city’s homeless population scrambling for places to go. Some plan to move into shelters, while others say they’re going to go to neighboring states like Virginia or Maryland. A few said they will continue to wander the city hoping they will stumble on a safe place to sleep.

“I haven’t known what’s next for so long that it’s part of normal life at this point,” said Jesse Wall, 43, who was forced to pack up his tent and leave the encampment he’s lived in for the last several months. “We’ll see what happens.”

In anticipation of a sweeping clampdown on homelessness, the city’s human services department added about 70 beds to shelters and expanded storage space to hold people’s possessions that they can’t carry with them on the street, said Rachel Pierre, acting director of the agency.

She said shelters were full when the president’s order came down, but that the agency is prepared to open up more beds and storage facilities if they need to.

Advertisement

Advertisement

“What we are committed to is that we don’t turn anybody away from shelter right now,” Pierre said.

More in U.S.

Since the pandemic, the number of people living in DC’s homeless encampments has declined by two-thirds, said Wayne Turnage, deputy mayor of the city’s Department of Health and Human Services.

This year alone, the U.S. Park Police have disbanded about 70 encampments from federal parks in the city, said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. The last two still standing will be broken down this week, she added.

There are still many homeless people who are not living in encampments, local advocate groups say. In January, the city counted 900 people living on the streets during a one-night survey.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advocates warn that encampment sweeps don’t address the root causes of homelessness and only make the crisis worse by forcing people into a cycle of jail, debt and living on the streets.

“Fines, arrests, and encampment evictions make homelessness worse, further traumatize our homeless neighbors while disconnecting them from community and support,” said Dana White, director of advocacy for Miriam’s Kitchen, a local organization that works with homeless people. “If policing resolved homelessness, we wouldn’t have homelessness here in DC or anywhere else in this country.”

DC’s homeless communities face uncertain future

On Aug. 14, Wall stuffed his clothes, his rolled-up sleeping bag and a folder of important documents in silver trash bags. The night before, he came home to find a note tacked on to his tent saying the encampment he’s called home for the last few months would be taken down the following morning.

After packing up, he and several of his neighbors milled around the grassy median where they live, discussing what they will do next and where to go.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Wall, who moved into a tent nearly a year ago, told USA TODAY he might stay at a shelter for a few nights. Beyond that, he’s not sure where he’ll end up.

“It’s cruel,” he said of the sweeping order and push to move people off the streets.

Beatty, who has been homeless in DC for several years, said he may go to Virginia to avoid the federal crackdown.

“I don’t know how far of a walk that is,” he said, as a bulldozer began tearing through a nearby tent.

Contributing: Karissa Waddick

(This story was updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Washington DC cracks down on homeless encampments

Go to Source

Hot this week

‘Ridiculous’: American man slams H-1B policy; says Indian friend forced to leave US after 8 years

Representative image A Minneapolis-based data scientist spoke out against the H-1B visa policy after his friend, an Indian professional, was forced to leave the United States despite spending eight years building her life in the cou Read More

Piyush Goyal Lauds ‘Transformative’ GST Reforms, Says US Trade Talks On | Top Points

Curated By : Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 20:37 IST Piyush Goyal lauded the GST reforms, saying they will bolster India’s economy, and dismissed trade tensions between the US and India over Donald Trump’s tariff hike. Read More

Designer Giorgio Armani, who made Italian chic a fashion statement, dies at 91

Giorgio Armani, the iconic Italian designer who turned the concept of understated elegance into a multibillion-dollar fashion empire, has died, his fashion house confirmed. He was 91. Armani died at home, the fashion house said. Read More

IAEA Loses Oversight of Iran Uranium After Strikes as Tehran, Allies Resist ‘Snapback’ Sanctions |4K

CNN name, logo and all associated elements ® and © 2024 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. CNN and the CNN logo are registered marks of Cable News Network, LP LLLP, displayed with permission. Read More

“Will End War by Force if…” Putin’s Warning Rattles Zelensky, Russia Reminds “Danger for Europe” |4K

Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 20:15 IST Crux Videos Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kyiv on Wednesday (Sept. Read More

Topics

‘Ridiculous’: American man slams H-1B policy; says Indian friend forced to leave US after 8 years

Representative image A Minneapolis-based data scientist spoke out against the H-1B visa policy after his friend, an Indian professional, was forced to leave the United States despite spending eight years building her life in the cou Read More

Piyush Goyal Lauds ‘Transformative’ GST Reforms, Says US Trade Talks On | Top Points

Curated By : Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 20:37 IST Piyush Goyal lauded the GST reforms, saying they will bolster India’s economy, and dismissed trade tensions between the US and India over Donald Trump’s tariff hike. Read More

Designer Giorgio Armani, who made Italian chic a fashion statement, dies at 91

Giorgio Armani, the iconic Italian designer who turned the concept of understated elegance into a multibillion-dollar fashion empire, has died, his fashion house confirmed. He was 91. Armani died at home, the fashion house said. Read More

IAEA Loses Oversight of Iran Uranium After Strikes as Tehran, Allies Resist ‘Snapback’ Sanctions |4K

CNN name, logo and all associated elements ® and © 2024 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. CNN and the CNN logo are registered marks of Cable News Network, LP LLLP, displayed with permission. Read More

“Will End War by Force if…” Putin’s Warning Rattles Zelensky, Russia Reminds “Danger for Europe” |4K

Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 20:15 IST Crux Videos Russian President Vladimir Putin told Kyiv on Wednesday (Sept. Read More

‘From Fragile 5 To Top 5’: Piyush Goyal On Indian Economy As He Hails PM Modi’s GST Reforms

Curated By : Edited By: Last Updated:September 04, 2025, 20:24 IST In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in less than a decade, India has transformed dynamically under the leadership of PM Narendr Read More

GST Reforms: A Game Changer for India’s Middle Class and Economy | GST 2.0 | #therightstand | News18

CNN name, logo and all associated elements ® and © 2024 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All rights reserved. CNN and the CNN logo are registered marks of Cable News Network, LP LLLP, displayed with permission. Read More

‘Tariffs On India Over Russian Energy Crucial For Peace Push’: Trump Administration Tells US Supreme Court

The Trump administration has approached the US Supreme Court defending its decision to impose steep tariffs on India, citing the country’s continued purchases of Russian oil. Read More

Related Articles