DC Homeless Encampments Cleared

While the much-ballyhooed federal takeover of DC law enforcement has mostly been theater, the crackdown on homeless encampments has been real.

WaPo (“D.C.’s homeless begin to see the effects of Trump’s crackdown“):

Three days into the Trump administration’s seizure of law enforcement in the District, the city’s unhoused population has already seen federal agents entering camp sites and asking residents if they have drugs or weapons, three unsheltered people told The Washington Post.

Many others among the more than 5,000 people in D.C. without current permanent shelter said they had heard about President Donald Trump’s calls to clear encampments with increased law enforcement and “immediately” move their occupants out of the District. They expressed fear and anxiety over what could happen — and where they might go. At the same time, the White House has doubled down on its rhetoric targeting the city’s unsheltered.

“Homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. “And if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.”

The city’s homeless advocates have come out against the Trump administration’s law enforcement effort, arguing that increased policing is not a long-term solution.

NYT (“Officers Clear More Homeless People from Sites Around Washington“):

Several homeless encampments in Washington were cleared out by Friday, as President Trump’s efforts to take control of policing the nation’s capital played out among some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The Metropolitan Police Department, now under federal oversight, swept through at least three encampments on Friday morning, according to Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center and people who said they observed the police actions.

Officers were said to have thrown tents, sleeping bags and other belongings in the trash, and organizations that work with the homeless were bracing for more sweeps Friday afternoon and evening. Police began targeting the camps late Thursday.

In some cases, the police apparently removed people despite city health department notices allowing them to remain for several more days. Several homeless people in Washington Circle had the notices attached to tents since Thursday morning.

Several homeless encampments in Washington were cleared out by Friday, as President Trump’s efforts to take control of policing the nation’s capital played out among some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.

The Metropolitan Police Department, now under federal oversight, swept through at least three encampments on Friday morning, according to Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center and people who said they observed the police actions.

Officers were said to have thrown tents, sleeping bags and other belongings in the trash, and organizations that work with the homeless were bracing for more sweeps Friday afternoon and evening. Police began targeting the camps late Thursday.

In some cases, the police apparently removed people despite city health department notices allowing them to remain for several more days. Several homeless people in Washington Circle had the notices attached to tents since Thursday morning.

The Guardian (“‘It’s not illegal to be homeless’: disquiet as Trump crews clear DC encampments“):

Crews tore down a major encampment near the Kennedy Center on Thursday, with federal law enforcement removing residents and clearing out the remaining encampments across the city overnight. The removal is part of Trump’s federal takeover of the city’s police department and deployment of the national guard across the city.

[…]

In an encampment across the city, near the interchange of Rock Creek Parkway and Whitehurst Freeway, one homeless individual, who identified himself as G, had already packed up his belongings. He said he had had to bounce around to various locations over the last few weeks.

“It’s just going with the punches,” said G. “So you just never get settled. It feels like you [are] on the edge.”

G is also just days away from moving off the streets and into permanent housing. He said the only thing he’s missing is a new social security card, which he will have very soon, but until then, he’s not sure where he will go.

“What am I supposed to do for six days? Am I supposed to tell the national guard, or whoever, I got six days? Gonna get six days, and I literally have the appointment at the social security [office] on the 20th,” said G.

With encampments now closed around DC and just a few days before he can secure stable housing, G said he may consider staying at a shelter.

“I know the shelters might be full. I don’t even know where a shelter is, they haven’t gave us any list. No, nothing. They just made us fully aware of possibilities,” he said.

According to the DC office of the deputy mayor for health and human services, unhoused residents who want shelter will not be turned away, and the city is prepared to expand capacity as necessary.

But if homeless individuals refuse to leave encampments, the Trump administration said their options are limited.

During a news briefing earlier this week, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said homeless individuals could face fines or even jail time if they refused to go to a shelter or receive addiction or mental health services.

This, from the NYT piece, was interesting:

Nearby, David Barnes returned to find his tent, which was also in the park space at Washington Circle, gone. He said officers had thrown his belongings in the trash, again.

“Trump and his presidency has taken away two — not one, two — of my tents,” Mr. Barnes said.

Still, he added, he voted for Mr. Trump before and would do so again, because of the president’s desire to keep Washington clean and beautiful.

You can’t make this stuff up.

As we’ve noted many times before, this is just an awful problem. Some of the homeless are just down on their luck and unable to afford housing, which is incredibly expensive in most major cities. A substantial number of them are mentally ill and/or addicts. Either way, there’s not enough shelter in DC or most other municipalities to meet their needs. And a substantial number of them simply don’t want to live in shelters, for a variety of reasons—mostly because they impose rules that they won’t or can’t abide.

At the same time, having people sleeping on sidewalks and occupying public spaces is dangerous for others and a blight. Even Democratic mayors of major cities acros the country are cracking down on encampments, and recently received blessing from the US Supreme Court to do so.

There are no easy answers to any of this, but harassment and theft of their property strikes me as cruel and unhelpful.

A related WaPo piece (“Dallas ended downtown homelessness. Trump wants to change the rules.”) points to a potentially better, if certainly more expensive, way.

After years of homeless encampments spreading across downtown, officials here tried something new: They enforced a local law against sleeping on the streets. And instead of shuffling people to other neighborhoods, they offered wraparound social services — and a permanent place to live.

The approach worked. Even as homelessness nationwide surged to record levels, Dallas has emerged as a national model. The city declared an end to downtown homelessness in May after more than 270 people moved off the streets.

But in Washington, as President Donald Trump decries homelessness and pledges to clear out “slums” in big cities, the administration is looking to end the program that fueled Dallas’s success as part of a broaderoverhaul offederal homelessness funding. Meanwhile, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Scott Turner has blasted the program, known as Continuum of Care, as “a tool by the left to push a woke agenda at the expense of people in need.”

Unlike homeless people, who apparently have it made.