Gavin Newsom orders California to remove homeless encampments after Supreme Court ruling

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed anexecutive order allowing state officials to begin dismantling tens and thousands of homeless encampments nearly a month after the Supreme Court ruled that homelessness could be criminalized. 

The order will ask state agencies and departments to create “clear policies” that address homeless encampments that could pose a health or safety risk. Newsom asked that the policies be consistent with those adopted by the California Department of Transportation.

The Department of Transportation has cleared more than 11,000 encampments over the last three years from underneath overpasses and near offramps.

The state will give those people 48 to 72 hours’ notice and connect them with local service providers and housing. Any personal property will be collected, bagged, tagged and stored for at least 60 days.

“No more excuses. We’ve provided the time. We’ve provided the funds. Now it’s time for locals to do their job,” Newsom wrote on X in response to the Thursday order.

It is the governor’s first sweeping effort to tackle California’s homelessness problem – something he has made a priority of his governorship. Approximately 181,000 people in the state are estimated to be homeless, making California home to the largest population of unhoused people in the country.

Cities and counties across the state have approached the encampment problem from various angles but with mixed results.

Last month, the Supreme Court essentially gave cities the go-ahead to enact ordinances that target homelessness by punishing people for sleeping outside on public property. The conservative majority of the court said that a set of rules that allow law enforcement to ticket, fine or jail people sleeping outside did