Good afternoon Housing Not Handcuffs supporters,

Rents are too high. Eggs are too expensive. Inflation is soaring. But instead of addressing rising costs that push more people into homelessness, politicians and billionaire-backed lobbyists across the country continue ignoring the needs of their constituents. Instead of helping people make ends meet, politicians keep making homelessness worse by cruelly evicting encampments and arresting people for sleeping outside.  

Real leaders focus on meeting people’s needs, not playing games with their housing, livelihoods, and survival. We are focused on ensuring that everybody has the housing they need to thrive. Unlike Trump's policies that will make the rich richer and the poor poorer, solving homelessness with housing and support will truly help us all live healthier, safer lives. 

The next 22 days are crucial in our fight to solve homelessness. Please keep reading to learn more about the massive eviction of a homeless encampment in Oregon, updates on statewide bills, and information about an April 22nd Nationwide Day of Action.  

200 people at imminent risk of displacement in Oregon  

Right now, nearly 200 people live outside in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest. Most grew up nearby and were priced out of their housing due to rising rents and at least 80 people have serious health conditions. On May 1st, instead of providing housing that people can afford or health services, the Trump administration plans to forcibly evict the entire encampment under threat of 1 year in jail, $5,000 fines, or both. To our knowledge, this will be the largest forced removal of homeless people in recent history. It’s notable that this week, the Trump administration opened more than half of Federal Forests to logging. Again, profit is placed over people.

Just as forcibly removing 50 people from McPherson Square didn’t solve homelessness in DC, and sweeping 3,500 unhoused people in NYC didn’t get anyone into permanent housing, evicting 200 people from Deschutes will not decrease the number of homeless people in Oregon. This is a rapidly evolving situation that may prove disastrous for forest residents. Please stay tuned for updates and action steps.  

Bad bills (and a few good ones) moving across the country 

More bills that punish people for having no choice but to sleep outside are being considered in Texas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee and several other states. None of these bills fund housing or services —they all make it harder to solve homelessness by saddling people with arrest records and thousands of dollars in fines. Advocates on the ground are mobilizing to block these backwards, expensive, and counterproductive bills and remind politicians that housing, not handcuffs, solves homelessness.   

At the same time, there is real momentum behind bills that will restore the rights of homeless people that the Supreme Court gutted in their shameful Grants Pass decisions. To date, at least 15 bills in 9 states have been introduced to stop states from arresting and ticketing people for sleeping outside.  

April 22nd: Rally for Housing Now 

We’re thrilled to support our partners from the National Coalition for the Homeless and VOCAL-US on a National Day of Action. In DC and across the country, we will come together to mark the one-year anniversary of the oral arguments in the historic Johnson vs. Grants Pass case. Together, we will demand funding for housing and healthcare and reject backward ideas like handcuffs and budget cuts.

Thank you for staying with us in the fight for housing justice. We are not backing down. 

Onward,

Housing Not Handcuffs