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Gavin Newsom issues order for removal of homeless encampments in California Gavin Newsom issues order for removal of homeless encampments in California
(about 2 hours later)
Executive order gives guidance on how to remove tents and says decision for removal remains up to local authoritiesExecutive order gives guidance on how to remove tents and says decision for removal remains up to local authorities
The California governor, Gavin Newsom, issued an executive order on Thursday for the removal of homeless encampments in his state. The California governor, Gavin Newsom, issued an executive order on Thursday calling for the removal of homeless encampments across the state.
Newsom’s order would direct state agencies on how to remove the thousands of tents and makeshift shelters across the state that line freeways, clutter shopping center parking lots and fill city parks. The order makes clear that the decision to remove the encampments remains in the hands of local authorities. The policy calls for shutdowns of encampments on state property and urges local governments to follow suit. The order cites a controversial US supreme court decision in June saying unhoused people sleeping outside can be ticketed and jailed even when there is no shelter available. The ruling was the most consequential on homelessness in the US in decades and sparked widespread concern from advocates for the unhoused, who argued that criminalization exacerbates the crisis, making it harder for people to get the help they need.
The guidance comes after a decision by the US supreme court earlier this summer allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces. The case was the most significant on the issue to come before the high court in decades and comes as cities across the country have wrestled with the politically complicated issue of how to deal with a rising number of people without a permanent place to live and public frustration over related health and safety issues. The Democratic governor’s order comes as California has struggled to tackle its homelessness emergency, which in recent years has become one of the worst in the nation. A 2023 count estimated that there were more than 180,000 people in the state experiencing homelessness, including 123,000 people living outside on the streets in tents, trailers, cars and makeshift shelters.
The order directs state agencies to develop policies to remove encampments in line with the California transportation department’s long-running efforts to sweep away tents along freeways and other properties under its jurisdiction. Encampments should be subject to “immediate removal” when there is an “imminent threat to life, health, safety or infrastructure”; otherwise, unhoused people should be given notice at least 48 hours prior to the shutdowns, the order says.
The policy “encourages” local governments to adopt similar practices. The governor cannot order cities to do sweeps, but he can pressure them by threatening to withhold state funds. Newsom’s spokesperson told the New York Times that some state agencies were poised to immediately ramp up sweeps while others would take a couple of weeks to develop plans.
“We must act with urgency to address dangerous encampments,” Newsom said in a statement.“We must act with urgency to address dangerous encampments,” Newsom said in a statement.
While Newsom cannot order local authorities to act, his administration can apply pressure by withholding money for counties and cities. The order comes as Republicans have repeatedly used the homelessness crisis to attack Newsom and other California Democrats, including the likely presidential nominee Kamala Harris.
Newsom has made homelessness a signature issue as California governor. He pushed and campaigned for a ballot measure earlier this year to allow the state to borrow nearly $6.4bn to build 4,350 housing units. Chris Herring, a University of California, Los Angeles, sociology professor and expert on homelessness, noted that California authorities were already conducting sweeps prior to the supreme court ruling, which simply expanded governments’ abilities to criminalize people without offering shelter. While the order encourages jurisdictions to “humanely remove encampments”, Herring noted that it does not require officials to offer shelter and does not discourage criminalization.
The order comes as Republicans have stepped up their criticisms of California and its homelessness crisis as Kamala Harris – a former California district attorney, attorney general and senator – launches her presidential campaign. The vice-president entered the race over the weekend after Joe Biden’s announced that he would not seek re-election. “I read this as giving the green light to a harsher approach … It sends a clear message to municipalities that even if you do not have shelter available, you can go through with this. The law now allows cities and counties to cite and incarcerate individuals for sleeping outside.”
Newsom has repeatedly sought to blame the courts for the lack of progress on the state’s homelessness crisis over the last year, suggesting that laws defending the rights of the unhoused were preventing the state from tackling encampments. Now that the supreme court has given governments even more authority to criminalize unsheltered people, Newsom was potentially looking to shift the pressure back onto to localities, Herring said: “I do read this largely as a political statement.”
While Newsom praised the supreme court ruling for removing the “legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years”, other California Democrats were critical, including the Los Angeles mayor, Karen Bass, who strongly condemned criminalization.
Newsom’s order notes that the state has invested more than $24bn to respond to the crisis under his administration, including $1bn to assist localities in removing encampments, and $3.3bn for expanded housing for the homeless population.
Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco, which has challenged the city’s sweeps in court, said people living on state property near interstates were generally there as a last resort: “The folks the governor is referring to are in really desperate situations. They’re trying to stay out of the way. They’re living near freeways where it’s really noisy, the air quality is bad and the conditions are horrible, because they have no other choice. Arresting them is not going to change that.”
She added, “When encampments are swept, it makes the problem worse. They lose their paperwork. They’re cited and arrested. They can’t pay fines and fees. Their credit is destroyed. Warrants are issued. They lose contact with their social workers. Any modicum of stability is immediately eliminated.”
The San Francisco mayor, London Breed, also a Democrat, said that starting in August the city would launch a “very aggressive” effort to remove encampments following the supreme court decision.
The Associated Press contributed reporting