City of Española police cited unhoused people for trespassing on Thursday, July 31, 2024, telling them they will be arrested if they are still around the next day. (Photo by Molly Montgomery for Source NM)
In the wake of a court ruling giving local governments more leeway to force unhoused people off of public property, at least two jurisdictions in New Mexico have cleared out encampments.
A June 28 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for cities to enforce bans on unsheltered people sleeping outside in public places.
The same day the ruling came down, the Valencia County Sheriff’s Office served unhoused people with a notice telling them to leave an encampment in the bosque in Los Lunas.
And on Monday, the city of Española handed out a notice of closure to the residents of an encampment the city itself established in February, telling them they needed to leave by noon on Wednesday.
Around 2:40 p.m. on Wednesday, Española police arrived at the encampment and said they would return on Thursday. When they did, they issued citations to everyone for criminal trespassing, and arrested two people who had outstanding warrants.
Española Police Lt. Zack Wright told the remaining campers at the site on Thursday they had to leave by Friday, or they could face arrest.
Carol Draper, a resident of the camp since it was opened, said she and the other campers do not want to be sent away to a shelter in Santa Fe or Albuquerque because her family lives in Española, and she has found work there.
Draper said the city promised the campers they would purchase some land and build small homes, but that never happened.
NM Gov’s latest stop on public safety tour is Española, where tensions rise about a homeless camp
This week New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made Española the last leg of a statewide tour promoting her legislative agenda and seeking feedback from the public about crime and public safety.
The governor appeared in a town hall meeting on Tuesday alongside the city’s mayor and police chief, along with the governor of Santa Clara Pueblo. Attendees applauded loudly when an audience member called for clearing out the encampment in town.
“I really want New Mexico cleaned up,” Lujan Grisham said.
Pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order on July 25 mandating state agencies and departments adopt policies to clear camps on state property.
At another one of her town halls in Albuquerque on Monday night, audience member Kevin Cooper brought up Newsom’s executive order, and asked Lujan Grisham to replicate it here.
“I’ve been evaluating that, I’m looking at it carefully,” Lujan Grisham responded .
“All of the states are incredibly frustrated by the fact that we want to house people, we want to support people, we want compassion and respect, we don’t want to vilify any of these issues: being poor or mentally ill. That would be awful,” she said. “But we have serious felony-level crime occurring, and it makes it unsafe for anyone to walk to work, to go to their car, to go to the hospital, to go to a park, to go to school.”
Lujan Grisham said Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller “is very interested in how we might work together on a concept.”
Removing unhoused people from tent camps in Albuquerque argued before N.M. Supreme Court
Keller said the local and state governments need to work together on such an executive order, and do it thoughtfully. He said Albuquerque police clear 1,000 encampments per month.
A state district court judge in September blocked the Albuquerque Police Department from conducting encampment sweeps when there aren’t enough open shelter beds in the city.
However, the judge, the city government and advocates for the unhoused in May agreed to throw out his injunction because it would have been impossible to enforce after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
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