‘This area will be cleaned’: Miami warning sparks fear among homeless under I-95
People living on SW 2nd Street, between Miami Avenue and the Miami River, received a notice from the city warning of cleaning this week — a warning that touched off concern among the homea less population and housing-rights advocates.
The notice, from the Department of Homeless Services and posted around a city parking lot underneath a I-95 overpass, directs people to remove any personal items from the area so it can be “cleaned” and says if people would like to relocate they can call phone number on the notice for emergency housing or speak with outreach workers who will “be visiting the area frequently.”
As of Monday evening, no cleaning had taken place, according to activists monitoring the area.
The notice came about two weeks after the Miami City Commission passed a controversial ordinance that bans homeless encampments and says police can arrest violators. The new law has put Miami’s homeless population on edge.
“There’s a lot of anxiety on the streets because of ... the anti-encampment ordinance. There’s a lot of stress,” said David Peery, an attorney and homeless advocate who was once homeless.
Peery said he has observed an “escalation” in aggressive tactics toward the homeless population, starting with a ban on feeding homeless people without a permit.
The ordinance, which passed in late October after months of debate and protest from housingrights groups, says police must offer a shelter bed to homeless people and, if they refuse, they should be arrested.
But activists and homeless people say getting a shelter bed is difficult — the phone number that the city lists is often out of service or has never-ending hold lines. And many homeless people don’t have access to a telephone. Homeless people also say shelters can be dangerous and can feel like prisons.
“My concern is that these ‘cleanups’ are often used to pressure people to move when they don’t have anywhere to go and to destroy their property,” said Benjamin Waxman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties UnionFL Greater Miami Chapter. “That’s just wrong and unnecessary and is a vehicle to harass and criminalize people for being homeless . ... the Constitution prohibits the government from seizing people’s property and taking it and destroying it.”
Peery said: “The timing is cruel, just before the holidays. The anti-encampment ordinance is going to become law just days after Thanksgiving.”
Miami’s Department of Human Services did not respond to a request for comments.