Protesters in SF, Oakland, LA Denounce Rise in Encampment Sweeps

Groups of homeless rights advocates gathered at city halls across California and Washington state on Tuesday to protest the rise in encampment sweeps that followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision over the summer.

The coordinated demonstrations in San Francisco, Oakland, Vallejo, Fresno, Los Angeles and Seattle, hosted by advocacy groups Poor Magazine and Wood Street Commons, called on city leaders to stop the sweeps and instead focus on building more housing.

“What we’re dealing with right now is a way to criminalize people who are dealing with poverty, who are not able to afford rent,” homeless rights advocate Junebug Kealoha said outside San Francisco City Hall. “When someone is constantly swept, they are just shuffled and things get taken — it’s hard to stay on top of anything.”

The demonstrations came roughly half a year after a June Supreme Court ruling expanded local governments’ authority to fine and jail people for sleeping outside, even if no shelter is available. About a month later, Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by directing state agencies to crack down on encampments and urging local governments to do the same.

Fresno, Berkeley and a host of other cities implemented new rules, making it easier for local governments to clear sidewalk camps. In other cities, such as San Francisco, officials more aggressively enforced anti-camping laws already on the books.

On Tuesday, demonstrators in San Francisco held signs saying “Make Housing A Human Right” and set up tents with the words “Where do we go?” painted in bright colors. As the wet, cold winter season starts, homeless rights advocates say they want cities to at least pause encampment sweeps.

“All we’re trying to do is get away from the elements, away from the rain and the winter,” said Miguel Muteado Silencio, a homeless rights advocate with experience living on the streets. “It’s sad that in places like San Francisco and Oakland, during the harshest time, when the most vulnerable people are having a hard time, they’re being swept up, and their belongings are being taken away.”

According to San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management, city workers removed more than 2,400 tents and structures from city streets between Aug. 1 and Nov. 17.

Frank Noto, president of the San Francisco nonprofit Stop Crime Action, understands that housing is the ultimate, long-term solution to homelessness but said encampment sweeps should be part of the solution in the short term. “We can’t create supportive housing in a short period of time,” he said. “So, we try to muddle through, and we’re seeing a bunch of imperfect solutions.”

However, unhoused residents at Tuesday’s demonstration said they are worried about their future in the Bay Area as cities impose stricter rules.

In San Francisco earlier this month, policymakers capped the amount of time families could stay in city shelters, reducing the time from six months to 90 days.

And this month, supervisors reversed a policy change approved by city transportation officials in October that allowed oversized vehicles to be towed if the people living inside them reject offers of shelter, housing or services. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors rejected those restrictions after receiving letters and appeals from homeless rights advocates and people living in RVs.

Maks Doulton, 63, was just placed in temporary subsidized housing a few months ago after living on San Francisco’s streets for a year. Though she has a roof over her head now, she fears she’ll become homeless again when her subsidy ends.

“What happens to me in a year?” she asked. “I won’t be able to afford rent in a year either — then what?”