Gavin Newsom signs executive order to evict homeless encampments California

Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to evict homeless encampments California. The Democratic governor announced the move through a statement, in which he said he was committed to "addressing the crisis on our streets." 

Newsom said he took advantage of a recent Supreme Court ruling, Grants Pass v. Johnson which struck down a ban on moving people off public property unless they can be offered shelter beds.

According to a statement released Thursday by the governor's office, "local governments now have the tools and authority to address dangerous encampments and help provide those residing in encampments with the resources they need." 

Therefore, the state of California is now legally empowered to dismantle these homeless encampments without the need to have to transport them to shelters with beds and other amenities. 

"Newsom's order tells state agencies to identify sites where homeless people have set up tents and make plans to relocate them," they reported from POLITICO about the executive order. 

Newsom seeks to "politically clear his name." 

According to its text, Californian state agencies must now conduct inventories on these camps and draw up plans to address their situation. However, thanks to the ruling by the nation's highest court, they no longer need to make sure there are enough shelter beds for everyone before dismantling a camp.

"This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same. The state has been hard at work to address this crisis on our streets. There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part," Newsom said in the statement;

The governor's announcement generated pushback from some local activists committed to homelessness. One of them was Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness in San Francisco, who called the executive order "a punch in the gut".

"Basically, they want to crack down on people who have no other choice," added the activist, in dialogue with CNN. 

With the same media spoke Chris Herring, associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles, who assured that Newsom seeks to "politically clear his name of the homeless crisis, especially as he’s in the national spotlight right now amid the presidential election."

For their part, mayors Kevin Lincoln (R) and Todd Gloria (D) highlighted the governor's decision, but Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass did not. 

The Democrat, who was considered in 2020 to be Joe Biden's running mate, stated that she preferred a more comprehensive approach to addressing homelessness "that leads with housing and services, not criminalization."

"Strategies that just move people along from one neighborhood to the next or give citations instead of housing do not work. We thank the Governor for his partnership thus far and hope that he will continue collaboration on strategies that work," he added. 

Trump's response

Donald Trump was one of the first to react to Newsom's announcement and did so via his Truth Social account, where he criticized the governor for not acting sooner. 

"Why didn’t Gavin Newscum do this a long time ago? He’s only doing it because, just like Crooked Joe Biden, his Radical Left Democrat Presidential Candidate, Lyin’ Kamala Harris, is losing BIG in the Polls. They just did it for Political Reasons, because she comes from California, and looks terrible. Right after the Election, it will go back to SLUM LIKE condition, unless we WIN — THEN, AMERICA WILL BE GREAT AGAIN!" she wrote.