Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (CCH) is deeply troubled by reports that the Trump Administration plans to expand the unlawful and inhumane use of military force by deploying federal troops to Chicago. We know from what has happened in Washington, D.C., that such actions will directly harm Chicagoans experiencing homelessness and have devastating effects on our communities. This is a clear abuse of power with no justifiable basis.
Trump repeatedly attempts to equate homelessness with crime and disorder, but the reality is just the opposite: people experiencing homelessness are far more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators. Criminalizing or institutionalizing people simply for not having a place to call home is nothing more than a targeted and racist attack on disproportionately Black and Brown communities that have already experienced a history of disinvestment and systemic inequity. In Chicago, 70% of people living on the street are Black, though Black residents make up only 29% of the city’s total population.
What we have seen in D.C. is alarming. People have been forcibly displaced to undisclosed locations, belongings destroyed, and no progress has been made toward real solutions. Treating people who were forced into homelessness like criminals does nothing to solve homelessness; it only deepens the harm. Spending an estimated $424,000 a day to deploy troops is unconscionable when those resources could instead help people secure stable housing and begin rebuilding their lives.
These despicable actions are compounded by the Administration’s budget proposal which includes catastrophic funding cuts for housing, food assistance, health care, and essential services – the proven solutions to homelessness. Trump’s cuts to permanent supportive housing alone could lead to 170,000 households losing their homes. What communities need is investment in housing and supportive services, not militarization of their neighborhoods.
CCH is committed to working with state and local partners, fellow advocates, and dedicated service providers to prepare for this potential abuse of power. We will do all we can to protect our communities and push for solutions that will actually make us all safer: ensuring every Chicagoan has a safe place to call home and the support they need to thrive.
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