Florida Homeless to Be Banned From Sleeping in Public Spaces Under DeSantis-Backed Law
Florida Has Now Banned Sleeping Outside
The new ban has gone into effect however, the troubling aspect is this, there are no solutions. The only provision for the homeless is fines and jail. How has America allowed this to come into existence?
Introduction
The statements around the release of this new bill are surprising and yet they are not. The dividing line between the housed and unhoused has been growing for years. It is the new version of the Have’s and Have Not’s, and it is a growing tragedy.
You need to read this short article carefully; in it our governor declares who he considers to be a citizen and who is not. Short and eye-opening.
In the explosive times of unaffordability of housing and food provision, this was the wrong time and wrong-hearted approach to the problem.
Let’s look at His word as we start today
1 John 3: 17 to 18
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech, but with actions and in truth
John 13: 34 to 35
A command I give you, love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.
What say you…
What do you mean, words are just words. They must use fancy language, why worry about words like internment, round-up, sanctioned, and the like
Sleeping and camping are an eyesore, so this bill makes it better for us, or is it an us versus them situation now, oh well we ain’t homeless, right?
Provisions of False Comfort
We have all heard and have even said, “Out of sight, out of mind.” That is the basic idea behind the bill that has been passed. Now they will fight you on this but watch and listen to the language that they use when fighting you. Words such as the citizen, public spaces, and safety, all are verbal signals of which side they stand on. There is a Think Tank group called Cicero in Texas that is helping many states form anti-homeless bills, but with crafty wording, this is another example.
In the article they do state that getting them into a sanctioned camp would make getting services to them easier, but what city is going to surrender land for a camp? What group of homeless people is going to trust a city to go into a sanctioned camp with no known outcome or result? A false sense of comfort for the city, I mean the focus is on the citizens and the businesses after all, the homeless seem to be no longer citizens.
Let’s close this section with these thoughts, a homeless person would be interred at a camp for 365 days, does the word interred ring a bell for anyone? Think back to World War Two. The approximate cost to the municipality for the year would be $500 million a year. There is no exit strategy for the homeless. Mental health issues are not fully able to be dealt with. The main focus is drugs and alcohol, not the new problems plaguing many. False Comfort or not?
Does not Address the Root Causes of Homelessness
As parents, aunties, or grandparents we do not tend to discipline the little ones unless there is a clear-cut expectation and a breaking of clearly stated rules, correct? This new ban on sleeping, resting, and camping punishes the homeless for being involved in activities that are needed to survive, not thrive. Florida is now telling all homeless, that we cannot and will not help them get off the streets, but since you are homeless will discipline you aggressively.
Now a lot of folks are still stuck on mental illness, alcohol, and drugs and this title is called, ‘co-morbidity,’ which means two or more problems running together. Those still exist in the homeless community. Since the Pandemic and the national shutdown things have drastically changed. Stagnant wages, illegal immigration, and unaffordable housing are making staying off the streets for at-risk people nearly impossible.
Is It Help or a Game of Hide and Seek
Let’s go on a bunny trial for a moment. You are 35 and you have worked since you were about 18, no college, but worked hard and have always made ends meet well. Single and alone, things were okay, then the pandemic hit, and everything changed. Work shut down, food got more expensive, rent went up and the car care was crazy expensive and suddenly you are not okay. Toward the end of the pandemic, you end up homeless. Are you now not a citizen, are you now an addict, are you now mentally ill? Most likely not, but that is the assumption.
One of the phrases used in the article was ‘round up the homeless,’ which sounds more like cattle than humans. So, you must decide and quickly, hide and seek, and remain free or allow yourself to be rounded up, which? Will the camps help you or will they just protect society and businesses from seeing the homeless and give them a sense of security? Read through both articles for yourself, there are no long-term outcomes, or solutions, just 365 days in a sanctioned and then, nothing.
Affects the Local Quality of Life, Public Spaces
This is presented in the brief, but powerful article as one of two driving forces. It is the left hand of a set of handcuffs, and it will be well used in the months to come. It forces the focus not on the homeless but on the community and their quality of life.
“Allowing the homeless to camp in public spaces affects the local quality of life and is a nuisance for businesses.” Senator Sam Garrison stated, “And it states clearly that in Florida our public spaces are worth fighting for.” Quality of Life, Public Spaces, are worth fighting for. What about the humans who are trapped in homelessness?
What message is being sent to them, since nothing is being done except make everything, they need for mere survival illegal? Now the afterthought of getting services to them through this new bill is mentioned, but who is going to hang around to get services if jail is waiting for them?
Let’s close this section with this statement from the Governor of Florida, “I think it is important that we maintain the quality of life for the citizen.” Who does he consider a citizen?
This is just one hand of the pair of handcuffs, let’s look at the other handcuff to get the bigger picture.
Businesses and the Public to Become Pseudo-Law Enforcement
To imagine that businesses are going to be so empowered as to have the right to file lawsuits against cities and counties who ‘allow’ homeless to camp is frightening. It is the right-hand cuff of a pair of handcuffs that is getting ready to be handed over in January 2025.
Now if things were not getting dark enough for the homeless in the shifting economic times and the post-pandemic world, this bill allows some frightening stuff. It allows residents, local businesses, and state attorney generals to file lawsuits against cities and counties for allowing camping of any kind. Imagine the potential chaos this could cause in the court system. Imagine the wrong level of authority and power given to these entities for filing a lawsuit, it is dangerous.
In the article, there are few if any details on what cannot be allowed to file a lawsuit, so I can only imagine it could come down to two schoolyard bullies fighting it out in court. And they will not admit it but the only loser will be the homeless. The next question is this who foots the bill for all these expensive lawsuits? The homeless went from having a target on their back to having a reflective vest knit to their back with this new bill’s passage.
Sadly when 2025 rolls in the handcuffs will be in place to secure a brand new criminal class, the homeless. The foster kid, granny, the disabled, the veteran, auntie and so many more because of the old well-known issues and now because of the new ones as well. But let’s not forget how well we are caring for the illegals while our citizens go to jail or die on the streets.
Conclusion
Homelessness is a national problem, only made worse by state and federal government interference and attempts at ‘management, such as this terrible bill. Now, allowing the homeless to live and suffer on the streets is morally wrong, but to make them criminals is worse.
The governor has signed this bill to protect the citizens and public spaces from the homeless, correct? But what protections are in place to protect us from the illegals that are being supported? There is a wicked dichotomy here, it is wrong
Handcuffs, the homeless have one less reason to come in for help, for medications, for food, for getting registered for housing, this bill simply drive them deeper into hiding and cause more death, sickness, and loss. But they are not citizens, right?
CTA…
Answer this,
If no housing, if no shelters, if no help, where are the newly houseless to go for the needed help as we head into a recession, certainly we cannot consider jailing them all can we…
Answer This,
It is not the traditional homeless anymore, the bad guy, the drunk, and the drug addict, how do we expect granny and uncle, and the disabled to sleep without facing jail…
Answer This,
How have we made a moral decision that the illegal and non-resident has more rights and benefits than an American born here, how have we done this, and this is truth, we have switched and surrendered, jailing Americans, blessing illegals….
