In the wake of the recent Grants
Pass court decision, which allows local governments to criminalize homelessness, California officials have wasted no time intensifying their crackdowns on homeless encampments. In San Francisco, Oakland, and elsewhere, politicians are using this ruling as a green light to sweep unhoused communities off the streets, leaving tens of thousands with nowhere to go. Encampments are being bulldozed despite lack of shelter beds, while cities impose fines and jail time on people who can’t afford housing.
This response to the housing crisis is nothing more than an attempt to sweep the problem under the rug. In one of the wealthiest regions in the world, where there is more than enough housing and resources for everyone, the decision to criminalize homelessness—rather than address the root causes like skyrocketing housing costs, systemic inequality, and racial disparities—reveals the true priorities of the system: profit over people.
Timeline of Legal Changes: From Boise to Grants Pass
In June 2024 the Supreme Court ruling known as Grants Pass overturned protections for unhoused people established under the landmark Martin v. Boise ruling in 2018. While Boise prohibited cities from criminalizing homeless people for sleeping in public if no shelter options were available, the Grants Pass ruling has provided local governments more leeway to impose restrictions, carry out sweeps, and fine and throw people in jail who have nowhere else to go. These legal changes have emboldened cities like San Francisco and Oakland to ramp up their crackdowns on encampments.
In the months following this decision city leaders like San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao have doubled down on their rhetoric to “clean up” the streets by removing visible encampments. Governor Gavin Newsom has also supported increased funding for encampment removals statewide. Long-standing encampments with large populations like the one on MLK between 20th and 25th street have already been destroyed, forcing over 35 residents to relocate. While these officials point to public safety and health concerns, the reality is that these measures are designed to push poverty out of sight without doing anything to deal with the problems generating the growth of homeless encampments.
Homeless Shelters: A False Solution to a Growing Crisis
Many of the recent encampment sweeps are being carried out despite the fact that there aren’t enough shelters to house the people being displaced. Even when shelter beds are available, they often come with strict rules that make them unusable for many. Shelters may impose curfews, separate families, ban pets, and enforce moral or religious agendas that don’t align with people’s values. For some, these restrictions make shelters less of a refuge and more of a trap, forcing them to choose between their independence or sense of dignity, and basic shelter.
Moreover, shelters can be triggering and unsafe spaces for individuals with mental health struggles or trauma. Crowded, chaotic environments can worsen anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder, making it difficult to stay in these spaces. What’s worse, entering a shelter offers no clear path to permanent housing, leaving them in a state of continued uncertainty. The reality is that shelters should never be used as justification for sweeping people from encampments. Instead of short-term fixes, the focus must shift to providing permanent housing solutions that truly meet people’s needs.
Wealthy Bay, Homeless Streets
The Bay Area is home to some of the wealthiest people and corporations in the world. Yet, it is also ground zero for one of the most severe homelessness crises in the country. The stark contrast between empty luxury housing and the growing unhoused population reveals how wealth in capitalist economies trickles up, not down.
It’s not that there’s a lack of housing in the Bay Area—there’s an abundance of it. Across California, entire buildings, luxury apartments and hotel rooms remain empty. As wealthy landowners, real estate developers and businesspeople jack up housing prices, thousands of Californians, many of them long-time residents, are forced onto the streets because they simply cannot afford to live in their own communities.
Unaffordable Rents: The Root of California’s Homelessness Crisis
The growing homelessness crisis in California is directly tied to the state’s unaffordable housing market. According to a 2023 report by the University of California San Francisco, homelessness in California is due primarily to the impossibility of affording rent in the state. Of the homeless population surveyed, nine out of ten lost their last housing within California, with 75% living in the same county as their last residence. The median monthly income of those surveyed was $960.
As a result, many people live in precarious situations even before becoming unhoused. 49% of people entered homelessness from a housing situation where they didn’t have their name on a lease or mortgage, and 19% became unhoused after being released from an institution like prison or jail. The conditions that lead to homelessness—poverty, housing insecurity, and the lack of affordable options—are a direct result of the state’s disinvestment in public housing and tenant protections.
Racial Disparities in Homelessness
The homelessness crisis in California is deeply racialized, with people of color disproportionately represented in the unhoused population. Black individuals make up 26% of the unhoused in the state, despite comprising less than 6% of the overall population. Similarly, indigenous people account for 12% of the unhoused, an overrepresentation compared to their numbers in the general population. Latinx individuals also make up a significant portion, accounting for 35% of the unhoused. These racial disparities are not a coincidence—they are the product of systemic racism in housing, employment, and policing.
Additionally, the unhoused population is aging, with a median age of 47 years old. Many have been unhoused for extended periods, with 36% meeting the federal definition of chronic homelessness. The median length of time spent unhoused was 22 months, underscoring the prolonged struggle that many face in escaping homelessness.
Violence and Trauma: Criminalizing Survival
Being unhoused not only exposes people to constant threats of displacement but also leaves them vulnerable to violence. Nearly one-third of unhoused individuals in California reported a jail stay during their episode of homelessness. Additionally, 38% of respondents reported experiencing either sexual or other physical violence while unhoused, with rates of sexual violence disproportionately higher for women and non-binary individuals.
These experiences of violence, incarceration, and other trauma are often part of the story that lead people into homelessness or keep them there. The UCSF survey found that many people became unhoused after enduring discrimination, violence, or other traumatic events. These compounding factors make it even more difficult to secure stable housing.
Conclusion: Housing for All, Not Just the Rich
These new crackdowns are not a way to solve the problems of homelessness in California. A real solution would involve redistributing the enormous wealth that exists in the state. Instead of addressing skyrocketing rents, empty luxury housing, and systemic racism, politicians are instead opting to hide the problem by throwing the people affected into jails and prisons. But the fact remains: the resources exist to end homelessness in California. The Bay Area alone has enough empty units, vacant hotel rooms, and unused buildings to house every single person currently living on the streets. The problem isn’t a lack of housing—it’s that housing is being treated as a commodity, not a basic right.
For far too long the elites have prioritized profit over people, driving up rents and the cost of living, forcing people onto the streets. Instead of criminalizing survival, there should be real options for people to live with respect and dignity, and to ensure that everyone has a safe, affordable place to live. No one should be left to sleep on the streets or in the jails while luxury apartments sit empty.
