On Monday afternoon, state troopers, officials from the state transportation department, and cleaning contractors descended on a homeless encampment beneath Texas State Highway 71 in South Austin. For the next four hours, the crew loaded crates and bags with cans, bottles, backpacks, and furniture, filling two dumpsters to the brim.
Some cleaning was certainly needed. The encampment, off West Gate Boulevard, was dirty—dirtier than the other encampments in Austin I’ve visited. Trash was strewn across the concrete. I saw feces and smelled urine.
But the state’s concerns weren’t strictly hygienic. The City of Austin has cleaned under highway overpasses once a month since May. Camp residents say that during those cleanups, they were often allowed to move their tents and important possessions onto the sidewalk or into piles, and the city cleaned around them. The state, however, insisted that all tents and personal belongings be cleared from the area, causing people to scatter with the possessions they could carry.
