Following President Donald Trump’s takeover of law enforcement in the District of Columbia, federal agents have begun entering homeless encampments, questioning residents about drugs and weapons, according to unhoused individuals who spoke to The Washington Post.
Growing fears
Many of D.C.’s more than 5,000 unhoused residents say they’re worried about Trump’s push to clear encampments and remove people from the city. They described feeling anxious and uncertain about where they’ll go next. Meanwhile, the White House has intensified its rhetoric toward D.C.’s unhoused population. “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 recently told reporters. “And if they refuse, they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time.”
Camp removals
Leavitt claims that 70 encampments have been removed from National Park Service land since March. It remains unclear whether any arrests of unhoused people have occurred by either federal or local officials.
Resources
Mayor Muriel Bowser and city officials say the number of people without shelter has dropped and that outreach teams are working to connect the unhoused with services. “We spend a lot of time and resources trying to get the people who are in encampments into shelter,” she said. According to the 2025 Point-In-Time count, D.C.’s homeless population has dropped 9% from 2024 and 19% since 2020.
Unhoused voices
Many unhoused people described to The Post growing confusion and fear about what comes next. “Nobody’s telling us anything,” said Albenny Morales, 46, who lives outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. “What are they going to do? Arrest us all and put us in mental institutions?” At a breakfast site on North Capitol Street, Frederick Walker, 44, questioned how shelters can handle the policy. “Shelters get full every night,” he said. “They fill up by 7 or 8, and if you’re not in, you’re on the street. Does that mean you’re fair game to get arrested?”
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Author: Isabella Torregiani
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