Los Angeles homeless fear forced removals after Trump vows wider crackdown

Homeless residents and outreach workers in Los Angeles say they fear military-backed removals after U.S. President Donald Trump signalled his Washington D.C. crackdown could extend to other cities, including Los Angeles.

Trump on Monday took temporary control of Washington’s police force, deployed 800 National Guard troops and vowed to clear homeless encampments in the U.S. capital, bypassing local leaders. He indicated Chicago and Los Angeles could be next, echoing a June deployment of troops to Los Angeles now under federal court review.

At MacArthur Park, Jessica Sanchez, director of St John’s Street Medicine Team, said an expansion of the policy could mean police detaining homeless people “possibly by force” and removing them to detention centres for rehabilitation. She warned such actions could disrupt trust built with vulnerable patients and undermine grant-funded medical care.

Physician assistant Waverly Datner said weeks or months of patient relationship-building could be undone if people feared attending outreach sessions.

“To have them be scared to even come here would be a shame,” she said.

Local residents voiced deep anxiety. Oscar Moreira, 72, who lives in the park, said, “If they were to do it, it’s going to cause a huge problem for all of Los Angeles.”

Alexa Montero, 48, who recently moved into temporary housing, said she has stayed indoors since hearing Trump’s comments, fearing she could be separated from her pets.

Trump’s comments come amid long-running disputes over the scope of presidential power to deploy federal forces in cities without state or local consent, particularly in Democratically governed areas.

Copied