Tulare County sheriff wants to clear a homeless camp. Those living there are pushing back
Mari Perez-Ruiz, executive director for the Central Valley Empowerment Alliance, kicks off a news conference along the Tule River in Tulare County. Unsheltered people living along the river have filed a lawsuit against the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office for attempting to clear their encampment when shelter space is unavailable. ARTURO RODRIGUEZ, CENTRAL VALLEY EMPOWERMENT ALLIANCE
First Published in the Award Winning Fresno Bee
BY MANUELA TOBIAS
FEBRUARY 22, 2021 06:42 PM, UPDATED FEBRUARY 22, 2021 06:49 PM
Homeless residents in the southern end of the central San Joaquin Valley have filed a lawsuit against the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office for attempting to clear out their encampment.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a series of trespassing notices on Jan. 18 at the encampment, along a portion of the south bank of the Tule River in Porterville. In response, residents — some of whom have lived along the river for more than a decade — filed for a restraining order.
“There’s nowhere else to go,” Rosendo Hernandez, a man who has lived there on and off for about 17 years, said during a news conference Monday afternoon. “Where are we supposed to go?”
Hernandez is one of the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit filed last week in Tulare County Superior Court.
Michael Bracamontes, the lawyer representing the group of roughly 150 unsheltered people living along the river, said they are “seeking injunctive relief to prevent the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office and Tulare County from unlawfully displacing the inhabitants at Tule River without alternative shelter or housing available.”
Mari Perez-Ruiz and Rosendo Hernandez talk with a reporter from a local paper.
He cited the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Martin vs. Boise, which states that cities cannot prosecute people for camping if there is no shelter space available.
Mari Perez-Ruiz, executive director of the Central Valley Empowerment Alliance, said shelter waitlists in Tulare County range from 18 months to four years, and there is a severe shortage of affordable housing.
The Sheriff’s Office told The Bee they were unaware of the lawsuit and had been asked by private property owners to vacate the land.
“Those served acknowledged they were aware they were trespassing and assured deputies they would voluntarily remove their belongings,” Ashley Ritchie Schwarm, media supervisor for the Sheriff’s Office, said in a written statement. “Instead, they participated in a press conference on Monday on the same private property in which they are and have been trespassing.”
Schwarm shared body cam footage with The Bee from Jan. 18, when Hernandez, the plaintiff, was served with the trespassing notice. In the footage, a deputy tells Hernandez to leave by the following Monday.
Josefina, Tule River resident
“When I come back Monday, if you’re still here, you’re either going to go to jail or I’m going to give you a ticket,” the deputy can be heard saying in the video.
“Yes, ma’am,” Hernandez replied in the video.
Schwarm said the people staying along the river were given information about multiple housing options, mental health programs and substance-use programs available in Tulare County.
In 2019, there were at least 819 people experiencing homelessness in Tulare County, according to the latest federally mandated head count. Activists expect that number is far higher.
“I’m so at loss for words that our law enforcement, instead of protecting our most vulnerable, is displacing folks when there’s nowhere else to go during a pandemic,” said Perez-Ruiz, from the Central Valley Empowerment Alliance.
Mike and John, residents on the Tule River
She said people camped along the river have been living in fear they will soon lose the only place they now call home.
“That is torture,” she said.
Only a week before the Sheriff’s Office issued the trespassing notices, Visalia officials conducted another homeless encampment cleanup that resulted in “explosions and flames,” according to the Visalia Times-Delta.
On Jan. 11, Visalia police cleared about 100 people living along St. John’s River. Heaps of trash, tents and other belongings caught fire that afternoon, when propane tanks inside the pile exploded. Officials ruled the fire an accident.
“I made a promise and I intend to keep it,” Perez-Ruiz said. “What happened at St. John’s is not going to happen here.”
Lilianna Sandra and Ruth, Organizers with the Larry Itliong Resource Center and Social Justice Warriors
