WASHINGTON — Each evening, Abdullah Ibrahim retreats from the streets right into a wooded stretch alongside the Potomac River.
As evening falls and temperatures drop, he erects a tent and builds a fireplace beneath a cover of pine, hemlock, and cedar timber.
He evades authorities by rotating use of three tents of various colours at three campsites. As day breaks, he dismantles his shelter, rolls up his belongings, and hides them for the subsequent evening. “They don’t see you when you’re within the woods,” the 32-year-old mentioned. “However be certain that it’s damaged down by morning or they’ll discover you.”
Throughout the day, he wanders, stopping at a public library to heat up or a soup kitchen to eat. What’s essential is to not draw consideration to himself for being homeless.
“Police need us out of the best way,” he mentioned, wearing a grey jacket and carrying none of his possessions. “Out of sight, out of thoughts.”
Ibrahim has been deliberate about mixing in since August, when President Donald Trump positioned the district’s police below federal management and ordered Nationwide Guard troopers to patrol its streets. The president additionally ordered homeless individuals to go away instantly. “There will likely be no ‘MR. NICE GUY,’” he posted.
The Trump administration says encampment sweeps have lowered the visibility of homelessness, thereby enhancing the town. “There isn’t a disputing that Washington, DC is a safer, cleaner, and extra lovely metropolis because of President Trump’s historic actions to revive the nation’s capital,” White Home spokesperson Taylor Rogers mentioned.
Whereas there could look like fewer homeless individuals within the nation’s capital now, they haven’t disappeared.
In interviews, homeless individuals mentioned they’re in a continuing shuffle, hiding in plain sight. Throughout the day, they keep on the transfer, grabbing meals at soup kitchens and resting once in a while in public libraries, on park benches, or at bus stops. At evening, many unsheltered individuals mattress down in enterprise doorways, on park sidewalks, and on church stoops. Some experience the bus all evening, whereas a couple of shelter in emergency rooms. Others discover respite within the woods or flee to suburbs in Virginia or Maryland.
There are about 5,100 homeless individuals in Washington, D.C., together with in non permanent shelters, in accordance with an early-2025 homelessness tally. After Trump ordered the crackdown on public homelessness, individuals dwelling in makeshift communities scattered and at the moment are dwelling within the shadows. Metropolis officers estimated in August that almost 700 homeless individuals had been dwelling open air with out tents or different shelter.
As winter attracts close to, they’re uncovered to the weather and develop sicker as continual illnesses corresponding to diabetes and coronary heart illness go untreated. Road medication suppliers say that, for the reason that Nationwide Guard was deployed, they’ve confronted huge issue discovering sufferers. Many caught up in sweeps have had their lifesaving medicines thrown away, and they’re extra prone to miss medical appointments as a result of they’re always on the transfer. Road medication suppliers say they’ll’t discover their sufferers to ship medicine or transport them to medical appointments. The fixed chaos can suck sufferers with psychological sickness and substance use deeper into drug and alcohol habit, elevating the danger of overdose.
Caseworkers report related disruptions, saying as purchasers get misplaced, they break connections important for acquiring housing paperwork, significantly IDs and Social Safety playing cards.
District officers and well being suppliers say this cascade will make homelessness worse, threatening public well being and public security and racking up huge prices for the well being care system.
“It was already arduous finding individuals, however the federal presence simply made it worse,” mentioned Tobie Smith, a avenue medication physician and the manager director of Road Well being D.C.
The Homeless Shuffle
Chris Jones was born and raised in Washington, D.C., however now could be homeless, having been pushed out of his tent close to the White Home within the preliminary days of the federal homelessness crackdown. He mentioned two of his tents had been taken throughout sweeps. Now, sleeping on a sidewalk outdoors a church, he doesn’t hassle attempting to get one other one. “Why? What’s the purpose? It’ll simply get thrown away once more.”
Jones, 57, has a extreme knee damage that forestalls him from strolling some days and mentioned he was scheduled for a knee alternative in December. He mentioned it’s essential to remain the place he’s — he depends on a close-by drugstore to refill his medicines for bipolar dysfunction, diabetes, and hypertension. When he’s hungry, he goes to a soup kitchen for a meal or tries to get a cheeseburger and a soda from a fast-food joint throughout the road.
It’s essential for him to remain outdoors the church, he mentioned, so his case supervisor can discover him when a everlasting housing slot opens up. If it will get too chilly, he mentioned, he’ll cross the road and sleep within the doorway of a enterprise, which may present a bit extra shelter. He needs to get indoors, however for now, he waits.
Since taking management of Washington’s police pressure, the Trump administration has ratcheted up stress on cities and counties throughout the nation to clear homeless encampments below menace of arrest, quotation, or detention. It has ordered or threatened related Nationwide Guard deployments in Los Angeles; Portland, Oregon; and different cities with massive homeless populations.
Rogers, the White Home spokesperson, mentioned the president is sustaining Nationwide Guard and federal regulation enforcement presence within the nation’s capital “to make sure the long-term success of the federal operation.” Since March, metropolis and federal officers have eliminated greater than 130 homeless encampments, she mentioned, although some native homelessness consultants say that quantity might be inflated.
The Supreme Courtroom final 12 months made it simpler for elected officers and regulation enforcement to high quality or arrest homeless individuals for dwelling outdoors. Then, in July of this 12 months, the president issued an govt order calling for a nationwide crackdown on city tenting, together with a large removing of individuals dwelling open air and compelled psychological well being or substance use remedy.
Trump can be spearheading an overhaul of homelessness coverage, shifting to slash funding for everlasting housing and companies for homeless individuals. The transfer would restrict using a long-standing federal coverage referred to as “Housing First” that provides housing with out mandating psychological well being or habit remedy. The Nationwide Alliance to Finish Homelessness warns the transfer dangers displacing not less than 170,000 individuals in everlasting supportive housing. The Division of Housing and City Improvement paused the plan on Dec. 8 to make revisions, which it “intends” to do, federal housing officers mentioned.
Metropolis officers say they’re complying with the Trump administration’s forceful marketing campaign in opposition to homeless individuals sheltering outdoors. Pressured by the White Home, native officers mentioned they’ve gotten extra aggressive in breaking apart camps. Advocates for homeless individuals say among the sweeps have been carried out at evening and others with little or no discover to maneuver. Metropolis leaders consider they might be completed extra compassionately by providing companies and shelter.
“We’ve pivoted from the notion of permitting encampments in the event that they didn’t violate public well being or security to a place of, ‘We don’t need you within the streets,’” mentioned Wayne Turnage, deputy mayor for District of Columbia Well being and Human Companies, who oversees encampment cleanups. “It’s unsafe, it’s unhealthy, and it’s harmful.” But he acknowledges the encampment sweeps can waste metropolis assets as caseworkers and avenue medication suppliers scramble to search out their purchasers and sufferers.
Advocates say the Trump administration is inciting worry and distrust between homeless individuals and people working to assist them whereas losing taxpayer {dollars} used to offer care and place individuals into housing. There are, nevertheless, far fewer tents and large-scale encampments seen to vacationers and residents.
“Individuals discovered security in these communities and repair suppliers might discover them. Now there are individuals with weapons and flashing lights dislocating people experiencing homelessness with out discover and simply throwing stuff away,” mentioned Jesse Rabinowitz, marketing campaign and communications director for the Nationwide Homelessness Legislation Middle.
District officers say some individuals have accepted emergency shelter. However at the same time as the town works to attach individuals with companies and develop shelter capability, officers acknowledge there isn’t sufficient everlasting housing or non permanent beds for everybody.
And there will likely be fewer locations for individuals dwelling outdoors to go.
The town, in its fiscal 12 months 2026 finances, concentrated its homelessness funding on households, funding 336 new everlasting supportive housing vouchers. But it lower funding for non permanent housing for each households and people and supplied no new everlasting supportive housing vouchers for people. Which means fewer housing slots for single adults, who make up most of these wandering the streets. Metropolis officers mentioned, nevertheless, that they’ve slotted 260 extra everlasting housing items for homeless people or households into their development pipeline.
Worsening Well being Care
The fallout is inundating native soup kitchens with demand, together with Miriam’s Kitchen in Foggy Backside. The native establishment gives scorching meals, housing help, and heat blankets to individuals in want.
Caseworkers say it’s changing into more and more tough to assist purchasers safe IDs and different paperwork wanted for housing and different social companies.
“I’m wanting in every single place, however I can’t discover individuals,” mentioned Cyria Knight, a caseworker at Miriam’s Kitchen. “Most of my purchasers went to Virginia.”
It’s unclear how a lot of the district’s homeless inhabitants has fanned out to neighboring Virginia and Maryland communities. There have been an estimated 9,700 homeless individuals within the area in January, months earlier than Trump’s crackdown. 4 of six counties round Washington noticed homelessness rise from 2024, whereas it fell 9% within the district.
“I’m not seeing my sufferers for a month or extra, after which after I do, their continual situations are uncontrolled. They’ve been out and in of the ER, they usually’re extra prone to be hospitalized,” mentioned Anna Graham, a avenue medication nurse practitioner for Unity Well being Care, a community of clinics in Washington. “It’s simply setting us again.”
Graham’s staff stations its cell medical van outdoors Miriam’s Kitchen at dinnertime to raised discover sufferers.
Willie Taylor, 63, was determining the place to sleep for the evening after grabbing dinner from Miriam’s. He noticed Graham to obtain his medicines for superior lung illness, seizures, continual ache, and different well being problems.
He has issue strolling and wishes a wheelchair, which is difficult as a result of he doesn’t have a everlasting tackle. Taylor and his medical suppliers say his earlier wheelchairs have been stolen whereas he slept open air at evening. He makes use of a purchasing cart to maintain him regular, strolling round all day, till dusk.
On a chilly November evening, Graham helped Taylor work out his each day medicines and checked his vitals. The staff handed him a heat coat and hand heaters earlier than sending him again outdoors.
After strolling for about 45 minutes, he discovered a bit of park pavement the place he might construct a mattress out of tarps and sleeping luggage.
“My physique can’t take this,” Taylor mentioned, getting ready to sleep. “There’s ice on the concrete. I’m in a lot ache; it hurts a lot worse when it’s chilly.”
Homeless individuals die youthful and value the well being care system greater than housed individuals, largely as a result of situations go untreated on the streets, and after they do search care, many go to the ER. Amongst Medicaid enrollees, homeless individuals have been estimated to incur $18,764 a 12 months in spending, in contrast with $7,561 for different enrollees.
Over on the So Others Would possibly Eat soup kitchen earlier that day, Tyree Kelley was ending his breakfast of a sausage sandwich and hard-boiled eggs. He was contemplating going right into a shelter. The streets had been changing into too harmful for somebody like him, he mentioned, referring to the police and Nationwide Guard presence. He was feeling the lack of an encampment neighborhood that might watch his again.
He’s been to the ER not less than seven occasions this 12 months to get take care of a damaged ankle he sustained falling off an electrical scooter. The accident brought on him to lose his job and medical health insurance as a garbageman, he mentioned. His state of affairs has brought on him to sink deeper right into a despair that started three years in the past after his mom died, he mentioned.
Then his father and sister died this 12 months. He started to numb his ache with beer.
“You get so depressed, being out right here,” mentioned Kelley, 42. “It will get addictive. You begin to not care about even altering your garments.”
His despair additionally led him to hunt out marijuana. Then he smoked a joint laced with fentanyl. The overdose despatched him to the hospital for days.
“I truly died and got here again,” he mentioned, crediting different homeless individuals with administering naloxone and saving his life. “I have to get out of this, however I really feel so caught.”
A couple of blocks west of the White Home sits a vacant plot of land that earlier this 12 months held greater than a dozen tents. Staff within the space sense what they don’t all the time see.
“I used to be right here when this was all cleared. A bulldozer got here in, and all their stuff was thrown in a rubbish truck,” mentioned Ray Szemborski, who works throughout the road from the now-empty lot. “Persons are nonetheless homeless. I nonetheless see them round beneath the bridge. Typically they’re at bus stops, typically simply strolling round. Their tents are gone however they’re nonetheless right here.”