David Beatty, 67, who has been living here for 6 to 8 months, watches as his tent is roped off, at a tent encampment in Washington, DC, on Thursday. Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The Trump administration is planning citywide sweeps of dozens of homeless encampments in DC starting tonight, according to city workers and advocacy groups briefed on the plan. In anticipation of the raids, organizations that assist the homeless are hurriedly working to get homeless individuals out of tent encampments before they can be detained or arrested.
“Arrests will occur at night, in an effort to avoid news cameras,” Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at National Homelessness Law Center, said via email.
“We are working to get our clients out of harm’s way as much as we can, and to monitor whether the actions follow the law.”
The impending crackdown, which local government staff and local and national advocacy groups confirmed to Mother Jones, come less than a week after President Donald Trump wrote on social media this week that the homeless have to “move out, IMMEDIATELY.”
A DC government worker briefed on the plan says law enforcement will target up to 62 different sites across the city, and that land not controlled by the federal government may not be immune from sweeps. (People sleeping in front of churches and businesses may also be targeted, the source says.)
It is unclear whether DC Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) or federal law enforcement will lead the efforts, or if the National Guard members Trump deployed to the district earlier this week will assist. Neither MPD nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment.
Crucially, advocates point out, there are not enough shelter beds in the nation’s capital to accommodate all of the people who regularly sleep outside. According to a joint press release from the National Homelessness Law Center, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, and Miriam’s Kitchen, there are currently just 40 shelter beds available and nearly 900 people who may need them.
“We are working to get our clients out of harm’s way as much as we can, and to monitor whether the actions follow the law,” Amber Harding, executive director at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, tells Mother Jones.