The number of homeless people in DC has fallen from pandemic levels. The White House said those remaining in the camp would be jailed if they refuse to move.
Inconsistent residents respond to Trump’s crackdown on homelessness
President Donald Trump’s homeless camp in Washington, D.C. and crackdowns on promoting fear and anger.
WASHINGTON – Blocked away from where President Donald Trump announced the latest slate of Kennedy Center recipients, workers have begun to wipe out homeless camps along the route to the White House as part of his wider crackdown in the capital.
The August 13 move comes days after Trump seized control of Washington’s local law enforcement agencies, deployed National Guard troops, and ordered people living outside to move “quickly.”
Amber Harding, executive director of the homeless Washington Legal Clinic, said Trump cleared at least two tents on a patch of green space near the Kennedy Center as he spoke at the Center for Performing Arts.
Members of the city’s Human Services Department have fixed the notification to at least nine other tents in the area, notifying residents that the camp will break and close if not removed by the next morning.
George Morgan, a lifelong DC resident, said he had lived in the camp for two months but didn’t know where he was going. He won’t allow him to bring in the American pit bull terrier, so he won’t go to shelter.
“I’m very worried,” Trump supporter Morgan said of the city’s police president’s acquisition and national security mobilization. “I try not to attack.”
He doesn’t know where he is going, but he says, “The God who wants will make the way.”
Where are they being taken?
Advocates for the city’s homeless population say it’s still unclear where the Trump administration expects people living outside to move.
At a press conference on August 12, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters that homeless people will “reject fines or imprisonment times if they leave the camp and are taken to homeless shelters and are provided with addiction or mental health services.”
She said U.S. Parks Police will remove 70 homeless encampments from federal parks from March, and will clear the remaining two encampments in the city later this week.
Andrew Wasenig, director of policy at Miriams Kitchen, a local nonprofit supporting the homeless, said Trump rhetoric and notifications placed in tents appear to be aimed at scaring homeless people away.
“The more people do it themselves, the easier it will be for them,” he said.
So far, Wassenich said the liquidation of the camp reflects past efforts by city officials and efforts to keep people away from the city’s hypertensive areas. In 2023, authorities removed a large tent location in a park near the White House despite a boost from local officials and homeless advocacy groups.
“They haven’t solved the homelessness problem. It’s not gone,” added Wassenic. “They’re just moving it.”
“Minimize confusion”
Over the weekend, the city’s human services department added about 70 beds to the homeless shelter to create space for the expected influx of residents, said Rachel Pierre, the agency’s agent. She said when the order came into effect, the city shelter was capable but could create additional rooms.
Wayne Tanage, deputy mayor of the DC Department of Health and Human Services, said the number of homeless camps in the city has dropped far below their pandemic levels.
According to Turnage, around 100 people live in today’s camp, down from about 300 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, supporters said these figures do not include all people living in D.C., which counted the 900 people living in the city during their one-night survey in January.
When the city cleans up or closes camps, they usually provide residents with a weekly notification, Turnage said. But with new federal orders in place, they tell residents they should pack their bags now.
“Our aim is to ensure that the camps are closed in an orderly manner and to extend homeless services to those affected,” said Tarnage. “These people are humans, not chess fragments. Their lives are confused, so they need to make sure they do everything they can to minimize the confusion.”
