Homeless people say they will likely return to sites if California clears them under Newsom's order

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Three years ago, Joel Hernandez built a small wooden shack under the 405 freeway cutting through Los Angeles.

He had the help of a friend who lives in his own shack, just a few steps down the stairs he painstakingly dug out of the dirt hillside and reinforced with wooden planks.

Hernandez has had similar homes be cleared in homeless encampment sweeps by state or city authorities over the years, so the 62-year-old is taking in stride that his days in his makeshift shelter on state-owned land might be numbered. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday issued an executive order directing state agencies to start clearing homeless encampments on state land, including lots under freeways.

“You get used to it,” Hernandez said. “I have to rebuild it every time.”

Many people living in these encampments echoed a similar sentiment of quiet resignation. Some simply wonder: Where else is there to go?

The order comes on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer allowing cities to enforce bans on sleeping outside in public spaces, even if there are no shelter beds available.

Newsom's order directs state agencies to act soon and follow the lead of the California Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans, which has removed 11,188 encampments and more than 248,000 cubic yards (189,600 cubic meters) of debris from these encampments along the state rights of way, mostly freeways and highways, since July 2021. Caltrans oversees much of the land under and near the state’s freeways and highways.

But most of the time, the people living in those encampments return after officials leave.

“I haven't found a better place,” said Hernandez, who has been on the waiting list for a shelter for three years. At least in this spot, he lives close to his friends and gets along with most of the people in the encampment, Hernandez said.

Hernandez and others admit it is not the safest place to live. A recent fire destroyed many of the shelters in the underpass, leaving the underside of the highway blackened and the area scattered with burnt trash, a broken grill, abandoned shopping carts and more.

Esca Guernon lives next to the freeway further away from the underpass with her dog, Champion. Sometimes people disturb her tent while she is sleeping or steal her belongings. But she always comes back after an encampment sweep.

“We have to take what we have, like our bikes or something, and we go over there for them to clean up,” said Guernon, pointing across the street. “I come back, because I don't know where to go.”

On Friday, an outreach team from Hope the Mission of Van Nuys, California, handed out cold bottles of water and snacks to Guernon and her friend. They will come back in a few days to begin the intake process and get them on the waiting list for a shelter.

“For us we're just building our rapport with them,” said Armando Covarrubias, an outreach team leader with the organization. It can take repeated visits for someone to accept their offer of help, he said.

Covarrubias said Newsom's executive order does nothing to reduce the population of homeless people, many who have to remain outside while waiting for a shelter bed.

“It's not a solution. It's not fair for them,” Covarrubias said. “This just puts more stress on them.”

Newsom and supporters of his order, including many businesses, say the encampments cannot be left to exist because they pose health and safety issues both for homeless people and residents who live nearby.

His executive order is about "getting the sense of urgency that’s required of local government to do their job,” Newsom said.