Cities Accused of Hiding the Homeless: Advocates Say New Laws Try to Eliminate People, NotProble
Maria Foscarinis has White House as a backdrop as she accuses cities of trying to hide the homeless from public view.</br></br>As the recession creates a swelling tide of people out of work and on the streets, some city governments across the country are passing laws that show a new hostility toward the homeless, a leading advocacy group said yesterday.</br></br>From Miami and Atlanta, which are pushing ÛÏ'hospitality zonesÛ where the homeless would be banned, to the District, where stiff anti-panhandling legislation is pending before the D.C. Council, cities are taking steps that make it even harder to survive on the streets, according to a new study by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.</br></br>ÛÏInstead of working to eliminate homelessness, some governments are trying to eliminate the homeless,Û said Maria Foscarinis, director of the center.</br></br>Foscarinis said the new laws are aimed at sweeping the homeless from viewÛÓfrom public places such as subway stations and parks, where they often sleep, and from the streets where many beg for money or food. But, she said, little is being done to address the problems that put people on the street to begin with: a lack of jobs and affordable housing.