AUSTIN, Texas — A major cleanup effort is underway across Austin, led by state troopers and the National Guard. Governor Greg Abbott says the operation is aimed at clearing homeless encampments, but some Austinites are questioning whether it’s the right approach.
Abbott announced the state’s homelessness operation earlier this week, saying it’s aimed at reducing public safety risks tied to homeless encampments. But some residents say they’re concerned about what happens next, and where people will go after the encampments are cleared.
“Living in America is hard right now, it’s expensive, and I think we are all just an accident or a tragedy away from also being on the streets and unhoused,” said Gigs Hodges, who lives in Austin.
As Hodges cast her early voting ballot Friday, she overheard Abbott answering questions about the new state-led operation targeting homeless encampments in the city.
“I think that there are many more compassionate services and ways to handle the problem of having folks that are unhoused,” Hodges said.
On Tuesday, the governor announced that Texas had deployed the National Guard, State Guard, and Department of Public Safety troopers to clear dozens of encampments around Austin.
During a media availability on Friday, CBS Austin asked Abbott: “Once these encampments are being cleared, can you tell us where people are going and also what is the long-term solution for addressing homelessness in Austin?”
“Sure, so first of all, with regard to locations, there are various different locations,” Abbott said. “The city of Austin is stepping up to help address the locations, and we will defer to them as long as the homeless are being removed from the encampments.”
The governor’s office told CBS Austin that people were informed of available locations during the sweeps.
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The city of Austin did not provide a list of those locations, but in a statement said, “We continue to welcome collaboration and additional resources from our partners at all levels of government. Sustained, coordinated action remains essential to helping people move out of homelessness for good.”
“What we did stop was tolerating the danger that’s being posed to citizens,” Abbott said.
Since the state operation began last week, Texas officials say they have:
removed 48 encampmentscleared over 3,000 pounds of debrisarrested 24 repeat felony offendersand seized more than 125 grams of narcotics.
“We want to make sure we’re making the community as safe as possible,” Abbott said.
While the governor says the operation is about public safety, some Austinites say it doesn’t address the root causes of homelessness.
“I want to see a government that represents the people of Texas,” Hodges said.
There are about 4,000 people likely experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Austin. The governor’s operation comes just one day after the city launched its own cleanup initiative, which cleared 46 encampments on its first day and runs through November 8.