After the Sweep: Where Do People Go?

President Donald Trump pledged to evict homeless people from the nation's capital and jail criminals, despite Washington's mayor arguing there is no current spike in crime on August 11, 2025. While details of the plan were unclear, the administration is preparing to deploy hundreds of National Guard troops to Washington,
a U.S. official told, a controversial tactic Trump used recently in Los Angeles to tackle
immigration protests over the objections of local officials.

 Trump’s vow to “clean out” homeless encampments in Washington and “lock up criminals” lands like a law-and-order thunderclap, but it also hints at a federal show of force that dodges the hard parts:

 Housing, treatment, and due process. He’s reportedly readying National Guard deployments—something he’s leaned on elsewhere—framed as restoring safety even as D.C.’s mayor says there isn’t a crime spike. Supporters hear strength and finally-someone-in-charge; critics hear mass sweeps, pretext arrests, and a federal end-run around local control that will balloon costs and court fights. Evictions without beds push people block to block; Guard troops on city streets blur lines between policing and the military; and “jail the criminals” risks treating poverty as a crime while the root problems—addiction, mental health, and unaffordable housing—go untouched. If this becomes policy, expect legal challenges over civil liberties and command authority, plus a political test: is the goal safer neighborhoods—or a televised crackdown that looks tough while the underlying crisis grows back the morning after?

I'm all for cleaning up the city of crime and homelessness... But where are all the homeless going?  What is going to happen to them?

People don’t just disappear because a press conference says “clean up.” In practice there are only a few places folks can go, and each path has very different outcomes:

  1. Sweep-and-jail
    If police clear encampments without adding beds, most people get pushed block-to-block. Some are cited or jailed for low-level offenses (trespass, camping bans, warrants from unpaid tickets). Short jail stays usually mean lost ID/meds/contacts and higher overdose risk after release. It “looks cleaner” for a week or two, then the camp reappears somewhere else.

  2. Shelter surge (short-term)
    Cities can open 24/7, low-barrier shelters (pets/couples allowed, storage, no curfew) and motel voucher programs. This works only if there are enough beds, transportation to them, and on-site caseworkers who can immediately replace IDs, schedule medical/behavioral evaluations, and start housing paperwork. Done right, it stabilizes people; done poorly, it’s churn.

  3. Housing-first with services (durable)
    Permanent supportive housing (a lease + onsite care), rapid rehousing (12–24 months rent help), and master-leased hotels or single-room occupancies actually end street homelessness for many. Pair that with treatment on demand (detox, MAT for opioid use, mental-health beds), mobile crisis teams, medical respite beds after hospital stays, and “safe parking/safe outdoor sites” as an interim option with security, hygiene, and a guaranteed path into housing.

If leaders really want cleaner, safer streets that stay clean, the “cleanup” has to include:
• A bed for every person displaced that night (and it must be low-barrier).
• Intake tents at the cleanup site: medical triage, ID replacement, benefits, and housing navigation on the spot.
• Storage and retrieval for belongings (so people don’t lose meds, documents, or work tools).
• Daily treatment slots reserved (detox/MAT/psych) and transport to them.
• Fast-track housing: master-lease entire hotels/floors, convert vacant offices, use landlord incentives, and set move-in targets by week, not month.
• Clear metrics the public can see: people housed, shelter utilization, OD reversals, police/fire calls, and encampments closed with placements—not just cleared.

So “where do they go?”—either into a revolving door of displacement and jail, or into beds and leases with support. The results depend on whether the plan funds the second path. If you want, tell me your city and I’ll sketch a concrete, 90-day action plan (beds needed, likely sites, cost ballpark, and who does what) you can send your councilmember.


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@1TheBrutalTruth1 Sept 2025 Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research.

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