California Governor Gavin Newsom, an early contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, is doubling down on his war against his state’s homeless population.
Newsom on Monday called on cities across California—which accounts for a third of the country’s entire homeless population—to clear out and ban homeless encampments. There are 187,000 homeless people in California.
His administration has penned legislation that allows towns, cities, and counties to adopt their own spin on his order. He has also made $3.3 billion in funds available for expanded housing and treatment.
Newsom has cracked down on homelessness since he took office in 2019, but his strategy has yielded little aside from taking homeless people and moving them to different areas in the state, which is not a permanent solution. An audit from 2024 found that the state spent $24 billion over five years with not much to show for it.
This is another notable rightward shift for a man who is seen as a legitimate front-runner for the presidency in 2028.
“Gavin Newsom isn’t fighting homelessness, he’s fighting homeless people,” Current Affairs wrote on X. “Banning encampments won’t fix the housing crisis, but it will make life more miserable for those with nowhere to go.”
This move also comes as Los Angeles prepares to host the Summer Olympics in 2028.
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