Governor Orders Removal of Homeless Encampments

California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order to remove homeless encampments throughout California.

The Governors order directs 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.

he move comes almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court upended six years of protections for residents of homeless encampments in California and other western states. Previously, cities were prohibited from punishing people for sleeping outside if they had nowhere else to go. As a result, local courts ordered several cities, including San Francisco, to halt or pause encampment sweeps.

"The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets," Newsom said in a statement to The New York Times. "There are simply no more excuses. It's time for everyone to do their part."

"This decision removes the legal ambiguities that have tied the hands of local officials for years and limited their ability to deliver on common-sense measures to protect the safety and well-being of our communities," Newsom said in a statement after the ruling, which came the same day Los Angeles released an annual count of the homeless population.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass, who opposed the Grants Pass ruling last month, was also critical of Newsom's new order.

"Strategies that just move people along from one neighborhood to the next or give citations instead of housing do not work," she said in an emailed statement. "We thank the Governor for his partnership thus far and hope that he will continue collaboration on strategies that work."

But business interests applauded the governor for taking action.