The hall fell silent as the sound of a sharp beep echoed through the room. The timer had started signaling the start of an intense discussion on the escalation of homelessness in the United States.
Human rights experts warned that the United States is moving in the wrong direction addressing homelessness, pointing to a wave of state laws that punish people for sleeping outside instead of addressing exorbitant housing and rent costs.
At the Nov. 20 hearing hosted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) at the University of Miami, advocates said the United States already knows what works and has the money to do it, but is choosing enforcement of hostile policies over real solutions.
Affordability and homelessness
Speakers said the rise in homelessness is tied directly to affordability.
U.N. Representative Balakrishnan Rajagopal explained that in 2023, more than 30% of Americans spent over a third of their income on rent. That strain pushed many families to the brink of homelessness, said Rajagopal, who is the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.
The hearing was one of many intense discussions that took place as part of the Human Rights in the Americas Symposium at the University of Miami from Nov. 16-21, hosted by the university’s School of Law.
Experts from around the world gathered to discuss the state of democratic institutions, migration, racial justice, gender justice, environmental rights and housing inequality.
While housing costs are rising, federal support systems are shrinking. Miami itself was recently ranked as the sixth-most expensive city in America to rent a one-bedroom apartment.
Advocates at the hearing pointed out that federal housing programs have faced repeated cuts, leaving people with even fewer options as costs of rent continue to skyrocket.
And more states are turning to criminal penalties to manage homelessness — with Florida leading the way — a trend commissioners say mirrors enforcement tactics used in federal immigration policy.
“This crisis isn’t accidental. It’s intentional,” said Eric Tars, Senior Policy Director at the National Homelessness Law Center. He explained that policies for homelessness are being designed to keep people homeless rather than help them.
Tars pointed to past federal actions, including a 2019 directive under the Trump administration that encouraged federal agents to clear out homeless encampments. He said several states, including Utah and Kentucky, are now adopting similar policies and approaches.
Homeless hurts marginalized the most
Experts emphasized that homelessness falls hardest on already marginalized communities.
Black Americans make up 32 percent of the homeless population, according to the most recent report by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, while Indigenous people are four times more likely to experience homelessness. LGBTQ+ youth also face disproportionately high rates of homelessness, and nearly 80 percent of women with children said domestic violence pushed them into homelessness.
“They hurt first and they hurt worse,” Tars said.
Panelists also described criminalization of homelessness as not only ineffective but harmful, especially when arrest records follow an individual for life.
“Arresting someone for being homeless is a double violation,” said David Peery, who in 2008 experienced homelessness himself and now works as an advocate and an attorney. “You’re punishing them for trying to survive.”
In some states, this harsh approach goes even further. In Kentucky, for example, homeless individuals can face up to six years in prison.
Speakers noted that the U.S. has never actually integrated a formal right to housing, although the concept has existed in the international human rights community since the 1960s.
“America has the building blocks for housing rights,” said Roberta Clarke, IACHR Commissioner and Rapporteur for the United States. “What it doesn’t have is funding.”
Tamar Ezer, the Faculty Director of UM’s Human Rights Program, said that communities of color are disproportionately impacted.
“Despite making up only 14% of the overall population, Black Americans constitute 32% of the unhoused population,” said Ezer. “For Hispanic and Latin persons, they make up 19.1% of the U.S. population and 31% of the unhoused population.”
But there is hope. Panelist Alexandria Beia Bartle, a law student and member of the University of Miami’s Human Rights Clinic, described affordable housing strategies that have already worked in other states.
One example Bartle gave came from Montgomery County, Maryland, where local tax revenue was used to create 10,000 new affordable housing units. Another example referenced New York City, where affordable housing programs were built directly into larger real estate development plans. In those cases, affordable units were not treated as stand-alone housing projects. Instead, they were planned as part of the city’s long-term housing infrastructure, meaning every new development helped grow the permanent stock of affordable homes.
Commissioners directed several questions to Lilly Califell, a deputy political counselor with the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, who was present on behalf of the U.S. Department of State. When asked to respond to concerns about the lack of federal strategy on homelessness, Califell offered limited remarks and ultimately declined to comment. Her refusal sparked a ripple of audible disbelief across the room. For advocates fighting for the rights of the homeless, the silence said more than any statement could.
One thing was clear. The United States has the resources, the data, and the real world examples that fiscal policy works. Despite this, they don’t have the commitment.
As the hearing wrapped, the final beep of the timer echoed yet again.
“We know what it takes to end homelessness,” homeless advocate Peery said. “Homes.”
This story was originally published by CommunityWire.Miami, an independent, community news outlet in the School of Communication at the University of Miami. The news service, staffed primarily by graduate journalism students, provides informative and interesting coverage of the university’s nearby cities.
