Newsom announced the initiative Thursday, and his office said the governor has directed “state agencies and departments to adopt clear policies that urgently address the issue of homeless encampments while respecting the dignity and well-being of all Californians,” Fox News reported. “This executive order directs government agencies to take urgent action to remove dangerous encampments while providing support and assistance to the people living there, and directs cities and counties to do the same,” Newsom said in a statement.
The order is expected to affect tens of thousands of homeless Californians who have set up long-term encampments and taken over entire city blocks by using drugs in the open. This is felt most acutely in San Francisco’s once-thriving downtown, which has been abandoned by nearly all businesses and where homeless people, the marginalized and drug addicts have become homeowners. The governor’s office stressed that those living in these encampments will be notified in advance of the eviction.
Newsom asked the Supreme Court to take up the case, saying court decisions barring the government from punishing vagrants who occupy public spaces have created an “insurmountable obstacle” to solving a dire social crisis.
