The Annual Homelessness Assessment Report shows major cities are home to large shares of people experiencing homelessness, with nearly 25 percent of the country’s total homeless population found in either New York City or Los Angeles, based on the 2023 count.
Homelessness shot up by more than 12 percent this year, reaching 653,104 people. The numbers represent the sharpest increase and largest unhoused population since the federal government began tallying totals in 2007, the U.S. Department of Urban Planning and Development said.
Unhoused residents have set up tents, tarps and other structures next to apartment buildings, along median strips and on the sidewalks of Cahuenga where it passes under the 101 Freeway. (Related: NBC News: Inflation and illegals to blame for HOMELESSNESS among LA students.)
In that area, at least four fires have broken out at homeless encampments over the last three months. Although no injuries have been reported, some people in the area have been on edge. Residents say that, over the past few years, they also have had to contend with screaming in the middle of the night, human waste on sidewalks and doorsteps, open-air drug use and threats of violence.
The Cahuenga area targeted by Inside Safe had 15 tents or tent-like structures. Bass acknowledged that the neighborhood has been more challenging than many of the other locations visited by Inside Safe.
“When we find that there is a criminal element, or people being harmed, then we have to address that accordingly,” Bass said. “We’ve not involved LAPD yet in this one, but we are looking into it, and we’ve heard of sex trafficking as well as drug trafficking.”
Bass sent outreach workers and other specialists to homeless encampments to make offers of motel rooms, hotel rooms and other types of temporary housing — all voluntarily — with the goal of moving those unhoused residents into permanent homes.
But the new encampment has only grown, even though Inside Safe promised that all 33 encampments would be cleared and would not return.
Nearly 2,000 people were moved off the streets into interim housing through Inside Safe in Bass’ first year in office. But only a few hundred housed under the program have moved into permanent housing.
The population of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness as well as the number of people living in shelters have both increased. This coincides with the record number of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S. borders.
Recently, the Department of Homeland Security released statistics showing that December 2023 set a new record for illegal entries, capping off the most disastrous year of illegal immigration to the United States.
In just the first three months of the fiscal year 2024, nearly one million illegal aliens were encountered at U.S. borders, and these figures do not include thousands of “gotaways” who are known to have entered but evaded law enforcement.
People who’d been living in a hotel in Aurora for months say they were pushed to the street after the city of Denver bought out all the rooms for illegals, reported 9news.com.
“Our family, we’ve been sleeping in the car for a couple of days,” said Joe Sauceda, who used to live at the Quality Inn in Aurora.
When Denver leased the hotel for the migrants, the hotel kicked out people like Sauceda. Now, he sleeps in his ’97 Lincoln with his partner and dog. “I don’t think it’s fair at all. Because where do I go?” Sauceda said. “Why are they taking precedence over hardworking people that have been living here and are citizens of Aurora? Why are they pushing us out to bring other people in here?”
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