The City Is Trying to Save Face for the DNC By Hiding the Unhoused

The Coalition to March on the DNC is disgusted to hear the news about how an unhoused encampment between the Dan Ryan Expressway and the 1100 block of South Desplaines Street will be cleared out and moved to a city shelter ahead of the Democratic National Convention, now only a month away. And to make room for the influx of people into the city shelters, other vulnerable people who have sought refuge there have been kicked out – including a domestic violence survivor, a recovering alcoholic, and others with chronic medical conditions. Where will the city send them? 

We know that the city’s motivation for moving the encampment is to hide the unhoused crisis out of sight and mind of the rich and powerful who will descend on Chicago next month for the DNC. These same rich and powerful people are directly responsible for the explosion in the unhoused population. In Chicago alone, the number of unhoused people shot up to 18,836 in 2024 versus 6,139 in 2023. This increase is directly related to the influx of people fleeing economic devastation inflicted on their home countries by US foreign policy.

The US is the wealthiest country in world history, and yet, the US government refuses to provide basic resources to its own residents. This is epitomized in how the city, and undoubtedly the feds, are working together to displace and destabilize some of the most vulnerable people in our society as they are already suffering from abject living conditions. Meanwhile, this country continues to wage endless wars around the world while sending tens of billions of dollars to fund a genocide in Palestine. 

We demand that our tax dollars be used to fund housing, education, healthcare, the environment, and other needs of the people, not genocide and war!