As millions of migrants cross the border each year, the nation’s homeless population continues to grow. Lax progressive laws, little to no police presence, and a ridiculous cost of living all play a part in the transient boom. Overdose deaths, rampant crime, and fires set by squatters terrorize homeowners in Portland, OR, yet it appears little is being done to stop it.
Homeless Move Into Empty Houses
The city is living up to its “Keep Portland Weird” slogan, and Mayor Ted Wheeler doesn’t seem to be able to get a handle on the homeless and the crime that follows them. Move over tent cities; the nomads are now shacking up in vacant houses. Residents Jacob and Beth Adams told Fox 12 Oregon that they have been dealing with this issue for five years, and things are only getting worse.
The couple says they keep fire extinguishers on hand at all times. “There are fires that have been happening off and on. Major ones,” Jacob told the outlet. “This recent one actually came and set our property on fire. Within 12 hours of that fire, another fire popped up. My wife was screaming, and propane tanks were igniting off from the fire.”
Mayor Wheeler said in October that he has plans to ban the camps, but the tent cities still remain, mostly undisturbed by law enforcement or officials. There are currently more than 6,600 homeless people in Portland spread over 700 encampments. Mr. Adams said he is constantly calling authorities because of overdoses, screaming, and other mayhem, but nothing is ever done. “It’s just countless, countless first responders’ calls,” he said. “We all have to love our neighbor no matter who they are. But at the point when they start setting your place on fire it becomes a little more difficult.”
Homeless in Oakland, CA (Photo by Tayfun CoÅkun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Homeless people taking over empty homes is becoming an alarming trend since lax law enforcement allows squatters to take root, despite numerous eviction notices. And thanks to the unwanted occupants, crime and drug use trickles into what used to be safe neighborhoods.
Last February, Oregon passed a law that decriminalized small quantities of street drugs so that people could have “personal-use” amounts, replacing the criminal charge and potential jail time with a mere fine. This applies even to methamphetamine, LSD, ecstasy, heroine, oxycodone, and cocaine. In September, the state Health Authority found that the program had failed. Shocker. “In the first six months of the law, fatal overdoses skyrocketed, with unintentional opioid overdose deaths jumping from 472 to 739” the New York Post reported. “Less than 1% of drug users who accessed drug treatment services opted for rehabilitation programs, data shows.”
Armand Martens, an 83-year-old veteran, told Fox that the squatters have destroyed the neighborhood so thoroughly that he fears for his safety: “I felt safer when I was walking around in downtown Saigon when I was in Vietnam than I do here in Portland.” The homeless neighbors have been hooking up a hose to his water, and Martens said he’s had to take matters into his own hands after repeated complaints to city leaders went unheard. “It seems like all of the stuff they’re doing is enabling the homeless people,” he explained.
Wendy, a displaced former hairdresser out of Washington state, confirmed Martens’ assumption and told homeless activist Kevin Dahlgren that living in Oregon is easy. “It’s a piece of cake, really,” she said, adding:
“I mean, that’s why you probably got so many out here because they feed you three meals a day. They’re loving us to death. You don’t have to do s—t but stay in your tent or party or if you smoke of a lot of dope, you can do that.”
Wendy, who had her false teeth stolen from beneath her tent, blamed the enormous homeless population on lax laws. “Here you don’t have any police,” she explained.
Decriminalizing drugs hasn’t helped and, in fact, has only made things worse. As Wendy pointed out, the transient have no reason not to go to the City of Roses, where everything is free and you can squat wherever you want.
