WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has announced an aggressive plan to clear homeless encampments from Washington, D.C., deploying 800 National Guard troops, taking control of the city’s police department, and vowing to use “involuntary commitment” to detain people sleeping in public. The order has sparked alarm among local officials and advocates, who say it could worsen homelessness and violate residents’ rights.
“No one can be banished from a jurisdiction,” the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless said in a statement on X. “We will not stand by if the federal government attempts to abuse its power against our community in this way.”
At an Aug. 11 press conference, Trump promised to “remove homeless encampments from beautiful parks” and relocate people living under bridges and in public spaces. While he said there are “many places” for unhoused individuals to go, D.C.’s shelters — about 3,200 emergency beds and 1,000 transitional housing beds — are already full, according to the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness.
Trump also suggested on social media that those living outdoors could be moved “FAR from the Capital,” but legal experts argue the president has no authority to force people out of the city. His plan follows a 2024 Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to ban sleeping or camping on public property.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb called Trump’s order “unprecedented, unnecessary, and unlawful,” noting that violent crime in the city is down 26% this year after hitting a 30-year low in 2024. Schwalb warned hospitals to prepare for more patients under involuntary commitment policies, in which people can be detained and medicated without their consent.
Advocates say the crackdown treats homelessness as a criminal issue rather than an economic and public health crisis. Experts point to research — such as a University of Southern California study — showing that expanding supportive housing and outreach, not criminalization, has been more effective in reducing homelessness, citing a 14% drop in Los Angeles’ unsheltered population over two years.
Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homelessness Law Center warned that people without shelter are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators. “Housing plus support solves homelessness,” he said. “The truth is we’ve tried institutionalization as a country — it never works.”