District officials cleared two unhoused encampments in Foggy Bottom last week, evicting about six people under a new protocol outreach leaders say exacerbates the already disruptive impact of the sweeps on people experiencing homelessness.
Employees from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and the D.C. Department of Public Works carried out evictions at 23rd and E streets and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway’s L Street exit, placing former residents’ tents in trash compactors. The evictions follow a series of escalating sweeps in Foggy Bottom, driven by federal policy shifts that culminated in President Donald Trump’s March 28 “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” executive order calling for the National Park Service to promptly remove “homeless or vagrant encampments” on D.C.’s federal land.
Local mutual-aid organizations said Trump’s push for more frequent evictions overburdens organizations, causing them to lose track of unhoused residents while increasing demand for supplies, like tents and tarps…