For five years, volunteers with Dallas Sandwich Sundays have shown up behind City Hall with folding tables, sandwiches, clean clothes, and open hands. Every Sunday, without fail, they serve hundreds of unhoused people with food, hygiene supplies, and dignity — no strings attached.

Now, the City of Dallas is trying to shut them down.

In July, the group received its first warning for violating the city’s “feeding the homeless” ordinance — despite emailing city officials in advance and following every requirement. When they set up again on July 20, they were met with police officers, city marshals, and code enforcement agents watching from parked cars. No one intervened, but the message was clear: they were being surveilled, targeted, and pressured to stop.

City officials claim it's about health codes. But advocates believe it’s about clearing out downtown ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup — not solving homelessness, but hiding it. And in the process, they're punishing people like Tanner Karnes and his team, who show up not for credit, but because no one else will.

Let’s be clear: handing a sandwich to a hungry neighbor is not a threat. It’s not a crime. It’s an act of care — one this city should support, not suppress.

We demand that the City of Dallas stop targeting Dallas Sandwich Sundays and other volunteer-run mutual aid efforts. Feeding the homeless in public is not the problem. The real problem is a system more focused on appearances than people.

If you believe compassion should never be criminalized, sign now. Tell Dallas: protect the volunteers, not the optics.

[Photo Credit: Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer Dallas Morning News]