People experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque and staying on public property are currently protected from having their things cleared by the city, with some exceptions. That is because of a court order that went into effect on November 1st.
But unhoused people and their advocates say that the city hasn鈥檛 followed the order.
Keely Pioche and Chile Reano live in tents in the International District.
鈥淲e are on Central and Alcazar, in a dirt field, in our home,鈥� she said.
It鈥檚 a big, empty lot owned by the city with an unkempt fence with holes. Pioche lives here on and off with a mix of biological and found family. But today, it鈥檚 just her and her friend Reano.
鈥淵esterday, I wasn't here when it started, but I came at the ending,鈥� Pioche said.
They said that鈥檚 when the encampment of about a dozen people that was here was cleared by city workers, who arrived with dump trucks.
鈥淎ll we could do was watch them throw away our stuff, you know, blankets to keep us warm, tents,鈥� Reano said.
It happened just as a cold front was coming in, and it rained into the night.
In sweeps like this, people often also lose IDs, medicine and other critical, and meaningful, belongings. The communities and support systems they form are also scattered.
鈥淚t's challenging already as it is being homeless,鈥� Reano said. 鈥淏ut when they come in and start taking our property and throwing it away without even us having a word or anything, it just brings you back down to zero or negative.鈥�
Back in September, a Bernalillo County District Court judge sided with the ACLU and other groups in saying the City of Albuquerque was violating the constitutional rights of unhoused people by sending or threatening to send them to jail for being in public spaces when housing and shelter beds are sparse.
The order blocks the city from continuing that practice and clearing encampments on public property, with some exceptions 鈥� people can鈥檛 camp on public school property or block roadways or walkways, like sidewalks, medians or alleys. The city can still sweep encampments on private property.
Christine Barber is the executive director of As U R, which provides necessities and helps get services to women living on the street, including sex workers and victims of sex trafficking.
She parked near the vacant lot at Central and Alcazar in a car full of basics to hand out, including, 鈥淧ads, tampons, condoms, panty liners, soap, facemasks.鈥�
She said that in the 15 years that she鈥檚 been doing outreach work with people experiencing homelessness, she has had very little pushback from police, but that鈥檚 changing.
鈥淚 can tell you right now that I have never seen so many police officers in my life driving around since the injunction started,鈥� Barber said.
She said in the month since the order went into effect, she鈥檚 seen police and city workers continue to clear encampments, including at this lot.
And she said when the unhoused people she works with are forced to disperse, it just gets harder to help them, even into new homes.
鈥淚 cannot even tell you the number of times we have had someone call us and go, 鈥楬ey we have a housing voucher for this person. They have a place to go. They have a place that will be paid for for the next year.鈥� We have to all kind of fan out and go like, 鈥榳here are they?鈥欌�� she said.
The City of Albuquerque filed a motion in October saying the initial court order was unclear or untenable. It asks the court to clarify several aspects of the order, including whether or not it can impose limits on how long unhoused people and their belongings can be in public spaces.
九色网 contacted the Mayor鈥檚 Office for this story, but did not receive a response clarifying what the city is doing to comply with the court order, what instructions city employees have been given, or how it plans to create enough shelter space for people experiencing homelessness so they aren鈥檛 in these areas.
鈥淚t is obvious to me that the city is grossly violating this court's orders daily,鈥� said Peter Cubra, a member of the Coalition for a Safer Albuquerque and a retired lawyer.
鈥淚 have received emails, text messages and phone calls from many people, and I have directly observed several campers who either have just been displaced by the city or were in the process of being displaced by the city,鈥� he said.
Cubra said he hasn鈥檛 seen a change in the way that the city handles encampments since the court order went into effect.
鈥淲hat should be happening is the city should be assigning people to assess its compliance with the court order to avoid being hauled in front of a judge. The city should be paying attention to the written complaints I know they've received alleging violations, and correcting those promptly,鈥� Cubra said.
The city has asked the New Mexico Supreme Court to rule on the legal arguments in the case. That hearing is on December 13th.
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