Several Atlanta City Council members raised fears Tuesday that the 2026 FIFA World Cup could push the city toward a law enforcement crackdown on homelessness, with police displacing or arresting unsheltered Atlantans near downtown matches, according to Atlanta Civic Circle.
"There's a concern that we are at risk of criminalizing homelessness in a way that is contrary to the values that we have as a city," District 4 Councilmember Jason Dozier said during an April 21 work session on Atlanta's World Cup preparations hosted by the council's Community Development and Human Services Committee.
A new state law awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp's signature would complicate Atlanta's ability to compassionately address homelessness before, during, and after the World Cup, Dozier said. House Bill 295 pressures local governments to enforce quality-of-life laws targeting unhoused people by allowing property owners to sue for damages if they do not. That includes offenses like public camping, loitering, panhandling, shoplifting, and public drug use.
"Our state leadership has not been as values-driven as we have been as a city," Dozier said. "That bill puts legal risk on municipalities if they don't clean up or criminalize homelessness in these sorts of ways."
Atlanta reformed its homeless encampment clearing procedures last year, after a tent-city sweep left 47-year-old Cornelius Taylor dead, crushed by a Department of Public Works bulldozer. The city's new protocols mandate advance warnings and greater coordination with outreach providers, but the protocols will face their first major public-events stress test when World Cup matches begin on June 13.
Eight World Cup matches will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium between June 13 and July 15, with fan zones and outdoor gatherings concentrated in a downtown footprint that overlaps with high-encampment areas.
