More Cities, States Criminalizing Homelessness

Cities and states are starting to take harsher measures against unhoused residents, reports Robbie Sequeira in Stateline, in part as a response to more complaints by local businesses and housed residents. However, homeless advocates warn that punitive measures that criminalize unhoused people and only address visible homelessness rarely succeed in getting people into supportive services and housing.

Yet states and cities around the country including Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, San Diego, and Portland, Oregon have passed camping bans that prevent homeless people from sleeping in public areas and performed violent sweeps to clear encampments. “The new Georgia law is the most far-reaching. It goes beyond a camping ban by steering the state away from the ‘housing first’ strategy embraced by many advocates.”

Meanwhile, homelessness rose by 12 percent in 2023 over the previous year, and the end of pandemic-era assistance programs could lead to even more evictions.