‘We gotta be somewhere’: Homeless Californians react to Newsom’s crackdown

By Marisa Kendall (CALMATTERS) – Gov. Gavin Newsom’s message on homelessness in recent weeks has been clear: The state will no longer tolerate encampments, and cities shouldn’t either. Californians who live on the streets, as well as the outreach workers who support them, say they’re already feeling the difference. Places where someone used to be able to pitch a tent and sleep in peace have suddenly become inhospitable. Police seem to be clearing camps more often and more aggressively, and are less likely to give advance notice before they come in with bulldozers and trash compactors, according to anecdotal reports in some cities. Even in cities where officials said publicly nothing would change, unhoused people and activists say it’s become harder to be homeless. But the shift, sparked by a Supreme Court ruling and then further fueled by an executive order, hasn’t caused a significant increase in shelter beds or affordable housing. That’s led people on the streets to ask: Where are we supposed to go? “We gotta be somewhere,” said Tré Watson, who lives in a tent in Santa Cruz, and says unhoused people are running out of places to go. “We can’t hover. We come here, they run...