Feb. 15 (UPI) — The National Park Service cleared a homeless camp in McPherson Square near the White House on Wednesday.
“McPherson Square was closed this morning because of very serious concerns about growing threats to life, health, and safety,” Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said in a statement. “The D.C. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services and its service providers’ request to close the encampment at McPherson Square began a deliberative, thoughtful process.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of DC, which leases space in a building bordering McPherson Square, called the camp clearing “an especially cruel decision.”
“Evictions never solve homelessness and always traumatize residents who simply need a place to live,” ACLU-DC organizing director Maxine Davis said in a statement. “By scattering our neighbors from a single location, evictions also make it much more difficult to connect people with the safe housing and dependable services they need.”
Wayne Turnage, deputy mayor for health and human services, said about 55 people were in the homeless camp Tuesday morning.
District councilman Robert White expressed anger in a tweeted video over the clearing of the homeless camp.
“I wanted to come out myself, talk to people, see what’s happening, see what they’re experiencing.” White said.
He said while he read reports saying the homeless people in the McPherson Square camp didn’t want to engage with government homeless services, he found a different story.
According to White, many homeless people he talked to want help to get housing but have been “handed off” from one organization to another only to end up on waiting lists, in some cases spending two years on housing wait lists after completing assessments.
“These folks need to believe that we’re actually going to show up and help. They are ready for housing. They are begging for housing,” he said in the Twitter video post.
Council member Brooke Pinto said she supports the clearing of the homeless camp. In a statement when the closing plan was announced she said, “the continued growth of this encampment threatens the safety of the residents in the encampment and the surrounding community.”
She said she will continue to work with service providers, advocates and the mayor’s office on homelessness because, “Getting people housed is the only long-term solution to effectively address encampments.”
The National Coalition for Housing Justice opposed the homeless camp shutdown called on the Biden-Harris administration to stop forcible eviction.
“Because forced removals tend to disconnect individuals from service providers and frequently leads to lost documentation and possessions, this action will ultimately make it more difficult for individuals to exit homelessness,” NCHJ said in a statement.