Some of the District of Columbia’s homeless residents were packing their belongings Thursday before expected sweeps to clear out remaining encampments around the nation’s capital, part of President Donald Trump’s federal takeover of policing in the city.
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President Trump wants unhoused people living in Washington D.C. to get off the streets and into shelters or out of the city altogether. But his administration has so far offered few details on how it will achieve this goal.
Without a detailed plan on tackling homelessness in the nation’s capital, advocates like Amber Harding, executive director of the nonprofit Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, worry the focus will be on criminalizing those who have nowhere to go.
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Amber Harding, executive director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, said officials cleared at least two tents on a patch of green space near the Kennedy Center as Trump spoke at the performing arts center.
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…Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, a nonprofit providing legal aid to people experiencing homelessness, argued the president does not have the power to move people outside the city’s borders.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contacts
National Homelessness Law Center- Jesse Rabinowitz (jrabinowitz@homelesslaw.org or 757.619.8957)
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless- Amber Harding (press@legalclinic.org)
Miriam’s Kitchen– Silvana Quiroz- (silvana.quiroz@miriamskitchen.org)
UNLAWFUL ARRESTS AND FORCED DISPLACEMENT OF HOMELESS DC RESIDENTS EXPECTED AS SOON AS TONIGHT
(WASHINGTON, D.C. – August 12th) Advocates in D.C. expect the Trump administration to begin the illegal and inhumane jailing and institutionalization of homeless Washingtonians as soon as today. The White House stated in public remarks that D.C. residents would be arrested for sleeping outside, refusing shelter, or declining social services. There are currently 40 shelter beds for the nearly 900 people who sleep outside in DC and social services remain limited. This move follows the Trump administration’s authoritarian taken over of D.C. and threats to force homeless people far from the place they call home.
Making it a crime to be homeless does nothing to solve homelessness, wastes money, and strips homeless D.C. residents of their rights and dignity. This announcement comes on the heels of President Trump’s recent order on homelessness, which paves the way for increased arrests, ticketing, forced detention, segregation, and institutionalization of people who are homeless, sick, or disabled. Homeless people have the same legal rights as any other resident of the District of Columbia. If you are approached by police, you are encouraged to:
- Stay calm. You can say clearly, “I am exercising my right to be silent” and “I do not consent to a search of my body or property.”
- If your belongings are on federal land or blocking the sidewalk, passageway or business, offer to move to a better place or to pack up the tent.
- Ask if you are free to leave. If told yes, leave. If told no, try to remember everything you can about the arresting officer (uniform, badge number, name) and any witnesses. Immediately state “I want to speak to a lawyer.” It is always safer to comply and challenge the actions later.
“The solution to homelessness is always housing first, with supportive services when necessary. Fines, arrests, and encampment evictions make homelessness worse, further traumatize our homeless neighbors while disconnecting them from community and support. Homeless Washingtonians have just as much right to be here in D.C. as anyone,” said Dana White, Director of Advocacy at Miriam’s Kitchen, a D.C. based homeless services organization. “If policing resolved homelessness, we wouldn’t have homelessness here in D.C. or anywhere else in this country.”
“People without homes have the same legal and constitutional rights as anyone else in this country—to be free from unlawful search and seizure, to have due process, to have the right to travel, and the right to choose which jurisdiction to live in. Arresting people for no reason other than the fact that they have no home is inhumane and unjust. It is particularly cruel to do so knowing that federal and local housing programs have been slashed and that DC does not have enough shelter beds,” said Amber W. Harding, Executive Director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless.
“People sleep outside in D.C. for the same reason people sleep outside across America- rents are too damn high. If Donald Trump cared about solving homelessness he would make housing cheaper and help people make ends meet. Instead, he deployed the military to D.C. and is pushing through a budget that will make housing cost more,” said Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center. “Arresting or ticketing people for sleeping outside makes homelessness worse, wastes taxpayer money, and simply does not work. The solution to homelessness is housing and supports, not handcuffs and jails.”
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About the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
The Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless envisions a District of Columbia where housing is a human right, racial justice is a reality, and all people have true and meaningful access to the resources needed to thrive.
About Miriam’s Kitchen
Miriam’s Kitchen helps individuals obtain the housing, health and critical resources needed to end chronic homelessness.
About the National Homelessness Law Center The National Homelessness Law Center is committed to protecting the rights of unhoused people across the United States and to advocating for policies that prevent and end homelessness, ensuring that all people have access to safe and adequate housing.
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In an Aug. 10 social media post, Trump suggested he would move people sleeping outside “FAR from the Capital.”
But Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, a nonprofit providing legal aid to people experiencing homelessness, argued the president does not have the power to move people outside the city’s borders.
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A nonprofit in Washington, D.C., has responded to President Donald Trump’s “various threats” after he pledged to evict homeless people from the nation’s capital.
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“People are not criminals or dangerous, by virtue of their unhoused status,” the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless wrote on X. People are struggling to afford rent and food in an expensive city. We should not have homelessness in our nation’s capital. But the path to ending homelessness is housing, not displacement.
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Benita has run out of options. In July 2023, she entered the Rapid Rehousing Program (RRH) to help her and her two children move out of a toxic environment in transitional housing. Two years later, as her subsidy ends, Benita is facing eviction, which could make finding stable housing even harder before.
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The D.C. Council removed a provision allowing families experiencing homelessness to be housed in communal shelters from the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget ahead of the council’s final budget vote on July 28, temporarily settling fears from advocates who worried a return to congregate housing would set back progress in creating safe shelter for families experiencing homelessness.