Across the nation, plunging temperatures are making many Americans huddle under blankets with the heater on full blast. One group doesn’t have that luxury, though: the homeless community.
For homeless people in the US, winter weather isn’t just unenjoyable — it can be deadly. Many must sleep in the rough due to lack of shelter space or other issues that keep them out in the extreme cold.
They often rely on a just handful of possessions to keep themselves safe and insulated — and even in frigid temperatures, law enforcement may seize the very blankets that keep them warm.
Unfortunately, “homeless sweeps” — in which belongings are seized and destroyed — are common across the nation, but homeless people are continually fighting to change that fact.
A suit filed in an Alameda County Court last week alleges that CalTrans — the California agency charged with building and maintaining California’s roads, bridges and rails — violated the Constitution based on its treatment of homeless encampments near roadways.
Several civil rights organizations are working with homeless advocates to file the suit, highlighting practices they argue aren’t just callous, but could actually be illegal. If they prevail, the case may change the face of policy and enforcement across the massive transit agency.
The claimants charge that CalTrans descends upon encampments with little or no warning, seizes people’s possessions and crushes them in trash compactors right in front of their eyes.
One homeless man claims that CalTrans crushed his cat in a compactor despite his attempt to intervene, driving home the risks of living homeless with pets.
When people have tried to protest, California Highway Patrol officers have threatened them with tasers and batons. Along with tents, sleeping bags and other belongings necessary for survival, homeless people have lost the tools they use to support themselves — not to mention family photos and other priceless possessions.
The suit alleges that this practice violates the Constitution — as well as California law — and inflicts emotional distress.
In cases where belongings have been seized but not destroyed on site, the claimants say, CalTrans doesn’t provide a mechanism for getting them back, and attempts at contacting the agency are ignored.
That makes being homeless in California even more dangerous, as people never know when everything but the clothes on their backs may disappear into the abyss.
Homeless people have filed claims with the agency and sued in the past. The suit notes that CalTrans has openly admitted that the practice of seizing and destroying belongings is effectively unspoken policy at the agency. Consequently, they’re seeking class action status, arguing that a systemic pattern affects homeless people across Alameda County — and California.
CalTrans states that while it does seize property, it posts warning notice in advance, and holds valuable possessions for people to reclaim.
But the suit alleges that this isn’t in fact the case. The agency has reportedly turned up before the times posted on notices and taken everything before people had a chance to remove it.
Additionally, CalTrans routinely fails to respond to calls or check belongings to ascertain their value before throwing them out. For example, one plaintiff maintains that the agency destroyed a gold necklace along with items like nail polish and a camp stove.
Over the summer, a CalTrans employee was accused of slashing tents and bicycle tires during a sweep, though the agency asserted that an internal investigation disproved the claims.
Officials claim such sweeps are necessary for public safety and hygiene, citing finds of used needles and human waste.
The battle over how to handle the homeless community in the Bay Area has occupied headlines for years, with a large number of stakeholders and complicated questions at hand.
Many of the homeless people involved in such sweeps have spoken out about feeling dehumanized and disenfranchised by the seizure of their belongings — and more than a few say they’d trade a front door for a tent zipper in a heartbeat, if the option was available to them.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy