>> Chicago's Department of Family and Support Services as well as local advocates for the homeless are preparing for possible encampment sweeps.

This follows news of an impending closures or closures on the Northside Legion Park and Golfers Park.

Meanwhile, the city shelter system is already strained and a looming federal threat is raising even more questions.

Joining us now with more our Duck Schenkel Burke, the executive director of the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness and via Zoom, Cindy Soto, the city's chief homelessness officer.

Thanks to both for joining us.

doesn't want to start with you.

What are you hearing from advocates and members of the homeless community about their concerns for the unhoused population and possible encampment sweeps?

Yeah.

So there's a lot of concern out there amongst people experiencing homelessness and folks that work with them.

>> That the increased federal presidents, the enforcement mechanism.

So whether or not there's a National Guard presence that puts people at risk for whether it's an immigration enforcement action or 4 other types of attempts to enforce federal laws for folks in public.

So we're trying to make sure that folks understand what their rights are and understand how to keep themselves safe.

And Casey, things happen.

Cindy Soto, what are you hearing?

>> Yeah, we hearing the same thing that that the public is hearing this.

Well, we would like better communication from the federal government.

We've been asking for it in the interim.

We are working with our partners like the coalition, the state, the county, all Chicago that manages or continuum of care to ensure that we are going work with what we know.

I'm prepare for what could possibly be that federal deployment doing what with stated today by the federal government in terms of perhaps backtracking that for us does not guarantee that worst.

We're in the clear we can move forward as is, you know, they they are not planning to come here.

We are going to continue to address the needs are unhoused community and ensure that we have the resources and have pooled our resources with our partners on the ground.

>> Right.

And of course, you're referencing the president last night in DC saying that they would go into cities.

That one thing they're sounding as if he's sort of hedging or reversing course or his promises on on sending the National Guard into the city on.

But we know that there were definitely concerns in Washington, D.C., when the National Guard was deployed there.

There were more than 50 encampment clearing Ys.

Does the president even have the authority to do such a thing here?

Sunday, 30, that question is to, know, I was in you can see out of the both of you.

So yeah, let let me know if they find next but know that the president doesn't have the authority to administer local government laws and so we ordinances.

So we do not need him to come here and really disrupt the progress, the positive progress that under this administration, Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration, we've been making.

>> And so we do want to ensure that, you know what, what we what happens with encampments that we, you know, continue to address the various needs with our outreach teams, with our community partners can continue to happen because building trust with the residents of encampments is so critical to this work, ensuring that its a human-centered approach with compassion with a whole set of services can be done in a way that is compassionate and and it can be received with the kind of outcomes that we all desire, including what the federal government claims they are hoping to achieve this.

Well.

>> Doug, your organization along with the city created your know your rights as an unsheltered person, campaign to get ahead of any federal law enforcement in Chicago because it is a concern.

Ice agents could go into homeless encampments how what should unsheltered people now.

>> So a couple different things.

One, is there a greater risk if they're in a public space?

So if they have the opportunity to get into a private space, get into a shelter bed, stay with others.

That's going to provide the more protection.

So looking for those options.

And I know, you know, the city been working very hard to create more options for folks in that regard.

That if they are approached by a officials recognizing that the right remain silent, that they can say that they don't consent to a search that, you know, they have those protections regardless of their documentation status.

you know, there's places that they can reach out to for help.

We have a phone number on the rights information is being sent out around the campus of folks can call it questions.

We can answer those questions or get them to others that can as well.

It's also great groups like the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights who are to highlight specific to immigration for spending the can.

5 people help that way.

>> Sunday, the president also wrote a note signed an emergency order this summer deploying excuse me deploying the National Guard.

inspires but his other executive order.

It is aimed at homelessness by targeting funding for housing.

First programming as well as encouraging civil commitment.

And I want to be clear that emergency order deploying the National Guard in DC that expires today.

What is your reaction to the president's executive order encouraging civil commitment and going after those funding for housing?

First approach is.

>> Yeah, reaction is, you know, concerning because we have proven that housing first that approach which, you know, can look like many different, you know, variables, depending on the city or the jurisdiction that's implementing it.

But the one in the city of Chicago that also incorporates permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing and meet the needs of that might be beyond just housing, but it addresses them in a way that prioritizes their housing housing for us is a homelessness assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness and prior to the pandemic from 2015 to 2020, Chicago was seeing a gradual decrease in homelessness through the implementation of housing.

First housing for says, based on the understanding that client races that valuable part of the equation, housing selection in support of services are also included in this process.

And so with plan choice with that trust building opportunities that that our community members are constantly doing.

The current coalition is constantly doing housing first can help solve homelessness and make it ideally functional 0.

And so if the administration wants to go after housing first, they're dealy keeping people on house, which is against again of what they're claiming their end goal to be.

>> I'm Doug, some neighbors living near encampments in Legion Park Conference park.

They've expressed concern over the homeless encampments.

A flyer from residents simply identified as the Legion Park.

Neighbors, the the flyer reads, quote, Legion park.

Neighbors have been exposed to many negative conditions in Legion Park for the past 18 months posed by the unhoused building in living compound in the park.

Neighbors have had to endure many dangerous conditions, including garbage and pollution, fires, physical assault, verbal harassment, illegal drugs, crime, theft and trespassers in our yard.

At the same time, Park District CEO Carlos Ramirez Rossa today said that, you know, they can they can sweep encampments and they can, you know, clear out, you know, 60 or so encampments, they're going to turn out, turn up at another park.

And it's a it's a continuous cycle.

What is the solution here?

The solutions, homelessness is a housing problem.

And so >> what we see when we see and cameras, that's a manifestation of a deeper problem that we have to address.

So whether you're to protect Ramirez, Rosas point Cleary on the cam, it only means someone's going to have move somewhere else unless we have the permanent long-term housing supports that they need.

So I would hope that those residents around we should Parker Compras Park.

Who are concerned about the encampments and the impact on the community can focus on working on the true solution, which is getting resources available to create the housing that's needed because that's the only way that we really get rid of encampments.

It's to get people the opportunity to get into housing that they need to have stable housing.

Okay.

That's where we'll have to leave it