Homeless Encampment Sweeps in the United States and the Threat to Unsheltered Individuals’ Safety and Security

Human Rights Research Center

4 hours ago

7 min read

September 22, 2026

An unhoused individual looks for their belongings as the City of Knoxville bulldozer approaches to start an encampment sweep underneath the I-40 viaduct in Knoxville, TN. [Image credit: Shawn Griffith]

Introduction

Housing insecurity is on the rise in the United States. The 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) count estimated about 745,000 homeless individuals, with about 266,000 of them unsheltered. These figures have increased substantially over the past decade, driven primarily by a lack of affordable housing and an economy where income does not keep up with the cost of living.^1,2 The Federal minimum wage in the United States has not increased since it was set at $7.25 in 2009, while housing costs (average rent or purchase price) increase every year.³ The U.S. Department of the Treasury estimates that more than 90 percent of Americans live in counties where median rents and house prices grew faster than median incomes from 2000 to 2020.

Communities have limited resources to provide enough shelter beds to accommodate their unhoused population. Even when they do, however, there are a number of reasons why someone may choose to remain unsheltered.³

Some shelters have rules that need to be followed or barriers to entry that not everyone can meet. These may include limits on the amount of personal items, pet restrictions, curfews, or sobriety requirements.
People may be separated from their family or friends (i.e., separate men’s and women’s shelters) and would rather be unsheltered with their loved ones than sheltered apart.
Sometimes people feel unsafe in shelters due to reported incidents of harassment, assault, theft, and exploitation. Crowded shelters lacking sufficient facilities can create additional barriers for individuals with serious mental illness or disabilities.

The spaces where unsheltered individuals reside are often referred to as “homeless encampments” or simply “encampments”. An encampment describes a temporary shelter in a public place where someone experiencing homelessness sleeps and stores their belongings. It can be as simple as a single person with a tarp or an organized network of tents with hundreds or even thousands of people sheltering together.

Municipalities and their housed residents typically argue against having encampments in their communities. More and more, cities and counties are choosing to involuntarily displace encampments, commonly referred to as “sweeps,” to remove them. There are legitimate health, safety, and sanitation concerns when it comes to encampments, and that is the argument that those in power use to sweep them. However, advocates for the unhoused, including the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, take the position that encampment sweeps are “counterproductive, costly, and harmful”.

Legal Landscape

In the early 2000s, cities across the United States had instituted “anti-camping laws”. These laws typically ban the use of any kind of pillows, sleeping bags, or bedding, along with stoves, to discourage people from sleeping in public spaces.⁴ This meant that those people without shelter would be breaking the law if they slept in public.

In 2018, a group of unhoused individuals filed a lawsuit against the city of Boise, Idaho, after receiving citations under anti-camping laws. The case of Martin v. Boise ruled that cities cannot enforce anti-camping laws if they do not have enough shelter beds to accommodate the unhoused population.⁵ This ruling was based on the 8th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The decision was justified by the fact that human beings are “biologically compelled to rest” and should not be punished for resting in public when they have no alternative.⁵ The judges believed that punishment for doing something that was impossible to avoid fulfilled the definition of cruel and unusual.

In 2024, the ruling in the case City of Grants Pass v. Johnson effectively overturned Martin v. Boise.⁶ The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 8th Amendment does not give the federal government the right to impose regulations on local homelessness policies, asserting that these decisions should be left to local municipalities. This ruling has received a lot of attention in public discourse as many recognize it as a way of criminalizing homelessness. In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor stated that homeless individuals are now faced with “an impossible choice — either stay awake or be arrested”.⁴

A Blackstock encampment resident in Knoxville, TN deconstructs their tent site ahead of a scheduled encampment sweep during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Image credit: Shawn Griffith]

Encampment Sweeps

There are two ways that municipalities approach a sweep- with the intention of helping the residents of the encampment secure housing or to push the residents out of the area. An audit of the encampment sweeps conducted by the New York City Department of Homeless Services from March 2022 to November 2022 found that out of approximately 2,300 people present, only 5% accepted temporary shelter.⁷ This reality is common across the country. In an interview earlier this year, the city of Oakland told a reporter from National Public Radio (NPR) that they prioritize outreach over enforcement.⁸ However, of the 378 locations that were swept around the city over 4 years, 40% were swept more than once because the residents returned.⁹

Advocates for unhoused individuals agree that sweeps are detrimental to the health and safety of the people living there. Encampment sweeps displace people from the services they rely on and push them into more isolated areas where they are at greater risk of crime or drug overdose.³ Sweeps involving citations or arrests create criminal records for people who are already struggling to obtain housing or employment.³ On top of that, countless essential items are lost or destroyed during sweeps. Many individuals have reported that their identification documents, including birth certificates, passports, and Social Security cards, were taken or destroyed during sweeps. Without these documents, individuals faced challenges in securing employment, obtaining housing, and accessing essential social services like Medicaid and food stamps.

People also shared about the loss of things essential to their health and well-being. This included baby formula and diapers, life-saving medications, wheelchairs, and hospital paperwork, as well as food, hygiene items, and camping equipment. They also lost cherished personal items, including family photos, stuffed animals, military awards, and even the ashes of a deceased partner.

Addressing Homelessness with Dignity

The National Health Care for the Homeless Council, a leading organization supporting homeless individuals in the United States, suggests a constructive solution to ending homelessness- the H.E.L.P.S. Framework:

House people
Earn trust
Limit police
Prevent sweeps
Support service interventions

By following this framework, local leaders can help their unhoused citizens and address homelessness in a dignified, respectful, and sustainable way.

Sweeps as a Human Rights Issue

When discussing the treatment of the unhoused in the United States and their rights, advocates often invoke both the 4th and 8th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The 8th Amendment was discussed above in relation to anti-camping laws. The 4th protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. During sweeps, people’s items are often damaged or thrown in the garbage. Even if law enforcement is given the authority to conduct sweeps, they should be conducted in a way that ensures fair treatment and respects the rights of those residing there.

The underlying intention of many encampment sweeps is to remove the visible homelessness in a community. Unhoused citizens are treated as a nuisance that needs to be pushed out of the public eye. This cruel and unusual treatment is both degrading and dehumanizing, and an insult to the dignity of the people residing in these camps. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that people should be protected from such treatment.

International human rights law also recognizes housing as a human right, specifically housing that is safe and secure and supports an adequate standard of living. By directing resources away from encampment sweeps and towards efforts to house and support individuals, municipalities can create communities where this is a reality.

Glossary

Encampment: a set-up of an abode or place of residence of one or more persons on public property or an accumulation of personal belongings that is present even when the individual may not be.
Homeless: a person who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Can also be referred to as unhoused.
Point-In-Time Count: unduplicated, one-night estimates of both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness conducted nationwide in January of each year.
Sheltered homeless: a person who is staying in an emergency shelter, transitional housing program, or other temporary situation where they have a place to sleep indoors.
Sweep: the forced disbanding of homeless encampments on public property and the removal of both homeless individuals and their property from that area.
Unsheltered homeless: a person whose primary nighttime location is a public or private place not designated or typically used for sleeping like a car or park.

Bibliography

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