‘We’ve Got Somewhere to Be’: Homeless Californians Respond to Gov. Newsome’s Crackdown

What Life Is Like for Homeless People in California

In Santa Cruz, enforcement has become particularly “brutal” in recent weeks, said Keith McHenry, an activist who distributes food and other supplies to the homeless community through his organization Food Not Bombs. Although, as in many cities, it’s hard to say how much of that change is a direct result of the Supreme Court decision and executive order. The tide had already shifted toward enforcement before the justices issued their ruling.

In April, Santa Cruz kicked out 30 to 40 people from a large encampment at a community park, according to the city. Many of the people displaced from the park set up tents on Coral Street, in front of a local homeless shelter, McHenry said. The city cleared that encampment in June. After that, some people moved to the Pogonip Nature Preserve on the edge of town. The city cleared the nature preserve late last month.

City officials say only five people were removed from Pogonip during the operation, but McHenry suspects there were more.

City officials say their strategy for dealing with homeless encampments has not changed.

“The city’s current practices have proven effective and are already consistent with Governor Newsome’s suggested local government encampment policies in his recent executive order,” city spokeswoman Erika Smart said in an email.

On a recent Wednesday morning, a man who goes by the alias Spraq was loading his belongings onto a bike trailer, preparing for a raid he said was coming later that day on Coral Street. Spraq, who ended up on the street after the truck he was living in was seized about 10 years ago, had been camping in the park until police kicked everyone out. He and his ex-girlfriend moved to a nearby street, and two days later, police found them, threw out his ex-girlfriend’s clothes and other belongings and forced them to move, Spraq said. So they moved to a parking spot on the street in front of Costco — a place they had camped many times before without a problem, he said. Again, police found them, told them they couldn’t be there and threw out their belongings, Spraq said.

“They did this until we had nothing left,” he said.

McHenry said the latest crackdown marks the biggest push to clear out camps he’s seen in Santa Cruz in years. Previously, he said, people would move on after a crackdown, and the city would usually leave them alone for a while. This time, police are regularly returning to areas like Coral Street to make sure people don’t return, he said. The city recently put up chain-link fencing and orange plastic barricades along the sidewalk to deter campers.

“There is an intense effort underway to prevent people from settling anywhere,” McHenry said.

Cities respond to Newsome’s push for crackdown

Enforcement appears to be ramping up along the San Diego Riverfront, where about 300 people are living in tents and makeshift shelters — many of them after police kicked them out of other camps closer to the city, said Kendall Burdett, a social worker for the nonprofit PATH. Recently, authorities have been cleaning camps along the river several times a week, Burdett said. Before Newsome’s executive order, checks occurred closer to several times a month, he said.

The riverfront is controlled by Caltrans and the city, and it’s not always clear who’s cleaning up the camps, Burdett said. But he’s noticed that authorities are less likely to provide advance notice before cleanups, forcing him and his coworkers to rush to help their clients. That makes it harder for people to find housing, Burdett said. People often lose their IDs during cleanups — which they need to get into subsidized housing.

“This all sets things back,” he said.

Other times, Burdett can’t find clients after they’ve been kicked out. As a result, clients sometimes lose their homes.

San Diego has already stepped up enforcement, passing an ordinance banning encampments in some areas last year. But the city says recent events have not changed anything.