From the Super Bowl to the Olympics, Cities Use Homeless Sweeps to Hide Systemic Failures Instead of Solving the Housing Crisis
Cities across the country continue to forcibly remove homeless encampments from sidewalks and other public areas as they make way for sporting and entertainment events.
These efforts show that some cities are more focused on catering to tourists and wealthy residents than providing housing for the most vulnerable populations under their jurisdictions. The sweeps also show the resources cities will dedicate to hiding homelessness instead of building more housing.
Advocates in New Orleans have been protesting Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s decision to forcibly remove a homeless encampment near the Ceasar’s Superdome, which is slated to host the NFL Super Bowl this Sunday. The unhoused individuals were transported to a transitional center located in a warehouse near the Port of New Orleans.
Landry’s office said the sweep was intended to improve public safety in New Orleans ahead of the event. Advocates say the sweep has made their efforts to move the people into housing and connect them with services more challenging.
A group of 12 community organizations, including the ACLU of Louisiana, sent Landry a letter after the sweep expressing “serious reservations about the effectiveness, cost-efficiency and long-term impact of this approach,” CNN reported.
Louisiana’s History of Sweeps for Big Events
This is not the first time that Louisiana officials have tried to hide homelessness ahead of a big event. In October 2024, a judge prevented New Orleans from sweeping an encampment ahead of a Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert. However, the sweep was conducted after the concert, which displaced about 75 people across the city.
The Olympics has become another popular time for local officials to conduct homeless sweeps. About 500 unhoused individuals were forcibly displaced from encampments in 10 cities near Paris ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics. Some people were placed on buses and sent to other parts of France.
“Olympic planning efforts begin months and even years before the events begin, and often require legislative changes and funding reallocation,” the National Alliance to End Homelessness said in a policy brief after the Olympics concluded. “Thus, the capacity and political will exist for cities to address homelessness through a longer-term vision.”
Los Angeles is another city that has been preparing to host the Olympic Games in 2028. However, local officials are forcibly removing homeless encampments ahead of the event instead of providing homeless people with temporary or permanent housing solutions.
California’s Crackdown on Homeless Encampments
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has instructed California cities to crack down on homeless encampments “with a sense of urgency,” according to a statement from his office. He also threatened to withhold money from cities that refuse to follow the guidance.
The ACLU of California described Newsom’s order as a “cruel tactic that only masks the problem.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been noncommittal about whether the city will continue displacing unhoused folks as the 2028 Olympics draws closer. At a recent press conference, she said she would not order city officials to place unhoused folks on buses and send them out of the city. However, she did not commit to stopping the sweeps altogether.
The sweeps in Los Angeles and elsewhere are also not providing any long-term solutions for the unhoused folks who are impacted. Los Angeles has been using sweeps to move people from the streets into its temporary hotel shelters. However, many of the people who had been moved into those shelters ended up right back on the streets within a few months.
“These large-scale displacements are a symptom of a larger problem: resorting to a short-term ‘fix’ to put a much larger systemic issue out of sight,” NAEH said. “Instead of these short-term stopgaps, elected officials should use that desire to put forth affordable housing and other legislative priorities desperately needed to support the unhoused residents of their cities.”
Fighting Back Against Criminalization
With the Supreme Court’s gutting of essential protections for homeless people, our work is more critical than ever. Nationwide, anti-homeless laws are gaining ground in legislative committees, fueled by hidden votes, corporate backing, out-of-state lobbyists, and conservative think tanks like the Cicero Institute. We’re fighting a crucial battle against misinformation and the criminalization of homelessness.
The pandemic underscored the urgent need to overhaul housing policies in the United States, revealing that many homelessness initiatives rely too heavily on law enforcement rather than social services.
Stand with our vulnerable neighbors and urge your representatives to take meaningful action to address homelessness. As the first step toward ending homelessness, we must prioritize compassionate solutions over punitive measures.
