Tag: homelessness

Louisiana advances bill to funnel homeless people into forced treatment and unpaid labor

Yesterday, the Louisiana House of Representatives took the dangerous step of voting in favor of a truly disgusting anti-homeless bill. This bill is an extreme take on the already extreme copy-paste legislation peddled by the Palantir-funded, billionaire-backed Cicero Institute. In addition to making it a crime to sleep outside, this bill forces homeless people charged with a crime to make the false choice between jail or at least one year of forced treatment. 

But it gets worse.  

This bill requires homeless people to pay for the very treatment they are forced into. And if the person cannot pay the cost of treatment, this bill requires them to perform unpaid labor for the government or a community organization to pay off their debt. Louisiana has a long history – and present – of chain gangs, prison labor, and entrenched white supremacy. This bill clearly evokes debtor’s prisons, convict leasing, and the ugliest day of Jim Crow.   

We can all agree that the creation of a two-tiered justice system, where people are punished differently for the same crime depending simply on whether or not they are homeless, is just too extreme.  

Louisiana Governor Landry cites Donald Trump’s anti-homeless policies to justify his support of this heinous bill.  But this is not just about Louisiana – it reveals just how far many states might be willing to go to align themselves with Trump’s extreme, anti-homeless agenda. Politicians from Donald Trump on down would rather blame homeless people than use their power to address the sky-high rents that are the leading cause of homelessness.  

Keep reading

California Provides Sex-Change Procedures to Homeless Illegal Aliens

Last month, we received a report from a whistleblower who claimed that illegal aliens were staying in San Francisco’s homeless shelters. Following up on the tip, we visited numerous publicly funded shelters in San Francisco, and spoke to employees and residents about their policies, sometimes through a translator.

We discovered not only that the shelters were housing illegal immigrants but also that they were apparently housing a population of male-to-female “transgender” illegal aliens, who had hoped to obtain “gender-affirming care.” And, to our shock, state and local governments apparently are providing it.

St. Vincent De Paul’s MSC-South facility is San Francisco’s largest homeless shelter, and, in 2024, signed a $66 million service contract with the city. After we arrived at the front entrance, an employee wearing a do-rag and a light green polo shirt showed us around and confirmed that illegal aliens were living there.

“You got a few people here from El Salvador. . . . You got a few people here from Venezuela. You got a few people here from a little bit of everywhere,” he said.

As a rule, he suggested, management instructed employees to refuse cooperation with federal immigration authorities. “When the ICE thing was going around, we all had a meeting, and they told us, ‘We ain’t letting them in.’”

Among the shelter’s residents was a group of Hondurans who identified as transgender. During our visit to MSC-South, whose executive director did not respond to a request for comment, we spoke with two Honduran men, “Lyca” and “Alondra,” who identified as transgender women. Both indicated that the local government gave them shelter and food.

Lyca, who wore long hair and red lipstick, was candid about this arrangement. He confirmed that he was an illegal immigrant and that the shelter doesn’t ask questions about immigration status. “Tengo Medi-Cal,” he said, referring to the state health-care program, which, under Governor Gavin Newsom, began providing “full scope” coverage to illegal aliens, which includes transgender procedures, or “gender affirming care.” He said he was receiving cross-sex hormone therapy—and bore the physical signs of having done so.

Alondra, a muscular man in a camouflage shirt and dyed hair tied behind his head, said he had been in the United States after claiming asylum. According to the translator, the city government had offered to pay first and second month’s rent on private apartments for him and Lyca. But neither accepted the offer—in Lyca’s case, because he might not be able to pay for the apartment after the second month.

Keep reading

O’Keefe Media Group: California’s Top Controller Communications Official Admits Audits “Are Not Getting Done”

The O’Keefe Media Group on Tuesday released undercover video of California’s top Controller Communications official admitting that audits “are not getting done” while acknowledging that fraud is rampant in the state.

Bismarck Obando told an undercover O’Keefe Media Group journalist that there is no plan to tackle homelessness.

“Do you feel there’s fraud going on in the state of California?” the OMG journalist asked Obando.

Without skipping a beat he replied, “Everywhere, cities, counties, special districts, hospitals, insurance companies.”

“We just can’t conduct the audits,” Obando told the journalist.

“It’s funny because they haven’t funded us to do those audits…they keep cutting our auditing teams,” he said.

Keep reading

Ohio Church Wins Homeless Ministry Legal Battle With City

A Bryan, Ohio, church may continue its 24-hour homeless ministry after a legal battle over fire code enforcement, a judge ruled on April 1.

Judge James D. Bates of the Williams County Court of Common Pleas dismissed the city’s lawsuit against Dad’s Place church with prejudice, ending civil proceedings aimed at shutting down the church’s overnight shelter ministry.

The ruling allows Dad’s Place, led by Pastor Chris Avell, to continue operating its 24-hour ministry serving vulnerable individuals in Bryan.

Court records show the case stemmed from enforcement actions by Bryan Fire Chief Douglas Pool, who sought to halt the church’s overnight activities over fire code concerns.

“The Court, from the initial time it was appointed to the case, felt that it would have to find for the Fire Chief,” Bates wrote.

“Having applied strict scrutiny … the Court concedes that the Fire Chief’s enforcement of the fire code fails because it lacks a compelling interest and isn’t the least restrictive means of enforcing fire safety. The City has given waivers to other businesses like hotels, but has refused to give the church a similar accommodation. This is fatal under strict scrutiny. Therefore, a judgment in favor of Dad’s Place must be entered.”

Keep reading

LA awards $106M to nonprofit whose lawyers hinder city’s ability to clean up streets — and bill $1,025 an hour

Los Angeles just cut a whopping $106.6 million taxpayer check to a nonprofit law firm whose lawyers have spent years hindering the city’s ability to dismantle homeless camps and clean up city streets — with one attorney billing as much as $1,025 an hour for work tied to its activism.

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) was awarded the largest share of an eye-popping $177 million tenant rights funding package approved at City Hall this week, despite opposition from the City Attorney.

Under the deal, Los Angeles will funnel $106,572,543.69 over the next three years to LAFLA for eviction defense services, even as attorneys connected to the organization have repeatedly filed lawsuits that blocked the city from enforcing municipal codes aimed at keeping sidewalks clear of encampments and neighborhoods safe.

But the money flowing to the group is far larger than that. City records show the Stay Housed LA eviction defense program, a city initiative administered by LAFLA through a network of partner organizations, had already grown to a maximum contract value of about $90.8 million through a series of amendments approved by the City Council.

Put together, the contracts push the pipeline of taxpayer funding tied to the nonprofit to about $197 million. That number jumps off the page when compared to the organization’s own finances.

Keep reading

This Canadian Man Is Poor, So the Government Offered to Kill Him. Here’s What Happened.

Given the insanity that’s gripped Canada, calling a transgender school shooter a ‘gunperson,’ and a host of other social policies that are outright nuts, let’s revisit an old 2022 story about then-54-year-old Amir Farsoud, who was going through the process of government-sponsored suicide. 

Farsoud suffers from crippling back pain and couldn’t find a new place to live when his rooming house at the time was up for sale. He couldn’t afford any place to live and barely got by on the $1,200 disability payments he received in Ontario. He wouldn’t make it on the streets, and knowing that, opted to apply for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAIDS). He fit the criteria, but his doctor knew the real reason why Farsoud was applying for MAIDS. He signed off anyway.  

In essence, the Canadian government told a poor man that death is an option and that we’re here for you since you can’t find a new home. Farsoud said that he doesn’t want to be dead  

“I don’t wish to be dead,” he said when this story aired. It’s a bizarre and disturbing tale.  

Luckily, a 2024 fundraiser helped Farsoud get a new place to live and opt out of MAIDS.  

Keep reading

LA city council set to write $177 million in checks to activist nonprofits — including groups that sued the city

Los Angeles City Council members are poised to vote Tuesday on roughly $177 million in fast-tracked contracts, funneling taxpayer cash to a tight circle of powerful tenant-advocacy nonprofits — including groups that have repeatedly sued the city.

The package, championed by lefty mayoral hopeful Councilmember Nithya Raman, would lock in three-year deals financed largely by Measure ULA’s mansion-tax revenue. The money will primarily be used to run tenant eviction defense and homelessness-prevention programs.

Earlier this month, Raman’s Housing and Homelessness Committee signed off on the plan, clearing the way for final council approval of contracts with four dominant players in LA’s tenant-advocacy ecosystem: the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), Liberty Hill Foundation and the Southern California Housing Rights Center.

Together, the organizations form the backbone of the city’s “Stay Housed LA” network — a powerful alliance that provides legal defense, rental assistance and tenant organizing across Los Angeles while wielding significant influence at City Hall.

The same groups are also widely known for their aggressive street activism, organizing protests, demonstrations and rent strikes, and for filing high-profile lawsuits against the city over homelessness sweeps, policing and housing policies.

Keep reading

Mamdani Reverses Course On Homeless Policy After Multiple Deaths

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that his administration will resume clearing homeless encampments, reversing a decision made shortly after he took office to pause the practice.

Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, initially halted the city’s homeless encampment sweeps on Jan. 5, days into his term, stating the need to develop a revised policy. Under that pause, the city had stopped actively dismantling makeshift camps that house people experiencing homelessness.

“I made a decision with my team to put a pause on that prior administration’s policy as we started to develop our own policy that would deliver far better outcomes for the city,” Mamdani told reporters last week.

Due to the recent cold snap, Mamdani issued a Code Blue, requiring city shelters to accept anyone seeking refuge from the cold.

Reports noted that at least 20 homeless people froze to death in recent weeks, which critics linked to his earlier policy of allowing them to remain on the streets.

“We knew that that is a policy that we would only deliver on once the prolonged Code Blue came to an end, because, as we know, in a Code Blue, the focus should be on getting homeless New Yorkers inside, not on the question of how we respond to structures,” Mamdani added.

Keep reading

Judge Rules on Evicting Residents Because Maryland Police Wouldn’t Clean up a Homeless Camp

We have bad news for you.

In a previous piece called ‘Horror Show in Maryland: Police Neglect of a Homeless Camp Might Lead to Nearby Residents Being Evicted,’ we talked about a condominium community called Marylander Condominiums, in Prince George’s County, Maryland, east of Washington, D.C. On the same grounds, there was an area nicknamed The Mountains which was a homeless encampment and open-air drug market, where criminal gangs allegedly rule. People from that camp would absolutely terrorize residents, even knocking out their heating system right as people in the greater D.C. area were digging slowly out of a pretty vicious snow/ice storm a few weeks back. Furthermore, officials were seeking to throw the presumably law-abiding residents out of their homes, by seeking a court order, because the homeless encampment had rendered their homes unliveable.

All of this was based on the absolutely excellent reporting of Aaron Sibarium…

Keep reading