Chicago Cleaning Out Homeless Encampments Ahead Of Democratic Convention

(OurNationNews.com) The City of Chicago, Illinois is trying to paint a brighter picture of itself by closing and cordoning off one of the city’s most prominent homeless camps ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

The move is supposedly in preparation for the national gathering of the country’s left and progressive party – where President Joe Biden is expected to be announced as the party’s standard-bearer for the national elections later in the year. The convention will be held in August, and local authorities are reportedly relocating the homeless population in the encampment to homeless shelters as early as now.

The homeless encampment is in the city’s southwestern area, and close to both the city center and the Interstate 90 freeway – the latter being a main thoroughfare between the two sites that will be utilized for the Democratic convention. The convention will take place on August 19.

Authorities say that they are targeting July 17 as the date when they will completely empty the encampment of its occupants, who were informed around a month in advance that they would be relocated. Officials add that they plan that the closure of the area will be permanent. Around 29 homeless individuals occupy the site, and as of press time, only six remain and will be transferred to a homeless shelter shortly.

City officials have also defended their decision to close the encampment, saying that federal law enforcement agencies would likely deem the site a security hazard anyway and request that it be cleared out of occupants.

“We don’t want to wait and be told the week before or the week of,” said Brandie Knazze, who serves as commissioner for Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services.

Knazze also stressed that the city would not be abandoning the displaced homeless people, and would instead offer assistance in securing housing or shelters for the indigents.

Data from the Windy City’s website indicate that there has been a significant increase in the city’s homeless population, which ballooned to 18,800 as of January this year, compared to 6,100 reported for the year-ago-period.