Trump’s remarks on homelessness in DC spark concerns among homeless advocates

President Donald Trump vowed this week to rid Washington, D.C., of homeless encampments, issuing a warning that the “homeless have to maneuver out, IMMEDIATELY.” Although what these plans will appear like, together with the place individuals will go, is unclear, sparking considerations amongst advocacy teams.

Whereas previewing an announcement concerning D.C., Trump told those experiencing homelessness in a social media publish on Sunday, “We will provide you with locations to remain, however FAR from the Capital.”

In his remarks the next day, Trump mentioned that the federal authorities will likely be “eradicating homeless encampments from throughout our parks” in D.C. as a part of an effort to “rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse.”

“There are lots of locations that they’ll go, and we will assist them as a lot as you’ll be able to assist. However they’re going to not be allowed to show our capital right into a wasteland for the world to see,” Trump mentioned throughout a press briefing on Monday while announcing plans for the federal authorities to take over the D.C. police division and deploy Nationwide Guard troops in D.C.

Dismantling homeless encampments isn’t a brand new follow in D.C. for both the Trump administration or native authorities, Dana White, the advocacy director for Miriam’s Kitchen, a nonprofit centered on ending continual homelessness in D.C., informed ABC Information.

“What is especially startling is the imprecise language about eradicating them from the district altogether, with none particulars about the place they might go, who would transport them, how that is funded, what meaning for his or her human and civil rights,” White mentioned of Trump’s latest remarks.

Donald Whitehead Jr., government director of the D.C.-based Nationwide Coalition for the Homeless, mentioned that although Trump talked about homelessness throughout Monday’s press convention a number of instances, there was “no concrete details about the way to handle the problem,” comparable to assets that might be developed to handle the problem in a non-punitive matter, or the place individuals will likely be moved.

“Our query is, is that this the identical answer that we have seen with the immigration inhabitants? Are individuals simply going to be moved to distant locations?” he mentioned.

“Actually, for a homeless advocate, it was actually an information-less press convention,” Whitehead mentioned. “It factors to it being extra of a stunt than an precise convention about options to homelessness.”

The 2 executive orders issued Monday, which have been the main focus of Trump’s press briefing, didn’t particularly point out homelessness.

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser informed reporters Monday that her workplace has not gotten any extra particulars from the White Home however will likely be following up with Lawyer Basic Pam Bondi.

“We actually have not gotten any extra element in regards to the plan, in regards to the phrases that he mentioned,” she mentioned throughout a press briefing Monday afternoon when requested about Trump’s remarks on homelessness. “It wasn’t referenced within the government order that got here down.”

“I consider he had a earlier government order that additionally recognized Lawyer Basic Bondi as some extent of contact because it pertains to homelessness and such, so we’ll comply with up along with her,” Bowser continued.

On any given evening in D.C., there are 798 unhoused individuals on the road, in line with the Community Partnership, a nonprofit working to stop homelessness in D.C.

In March, Trump issued an executive order for the elimination of homeless encampments on federal land inside D.C. Since then, the U.S. Park Police have eliminated over 70 homeless camps, Inside Secretary Doug Burgum mentioned Monday.

Final month, Trump additionally signed an executive order searching for to make it simpler for cities and states to take away homeless individuals from the streets and into remedy facilities by reversing judicial precedents and ending consent decrees. It additionally appears to be like to redirect federal funds towards packages that sort out substance abuse and targets “housing first” insurance policies, which prioritize everlasting housing as step one in addressing homelessness.

The orders have been met with pushback from homeless advocates, who contend that everlasting, inexpensive housing with supportive providers is a confirmed answer for chronically homeless individuals, and that dismantling homeless encampments is a counterproductive technique to resolving homelessness.

“Once we clear encampments, we disconnect individuals from the providers they should survive and to start out the method of being housed, and infrequently disconnects them from their belongings and from the communities that they shaped in encampments,” White mentioned.

With out inexpensive housing, individuals will most definitely pop up in a brand new camp, he and Whitehead mentioned.

“They’re principally moved from one website to a different as a result of there’s not sufficient shelter beds to fulfill the wants of the inhabitants in D.C.,” Whitehead mentioned. “They do not have a spot to go. There is not sufficient shelter. There definitely is not sufficient housing.”

In response to D.C.’s most up-to-date census of individuals experiencing homelessness, launched in Could, there was an general 9% lower in homelessness in 2025 from the earlier yr, together with an 18.1% lower amongst households and a 4.5% lower amongst single people.

White mentioned Miriam’s Kitchen is working to guarantee that single adults experiencing continual homelessness are prioritized in funding and coverage.

“It is definitely a extra tense surroundings, as a result of of us who’re unhoused and housing advocates alike do not actually know what to anticipate from this administration,” he mentioned. “We’re simply going to attempt to proceed to supply our providers as typical and put together to reply quickly as wanted.”