Council to consider defunding camp sweeps

Councilor Mitch Green calls camp removals cruel and failed policy

Campsites along Interstate 405 near West Burnside Street.

A budget amendment cutting more than $4 million in funds for homeless camp sweeps goes to Portland City Council for a vote on Nov. 12. Introduced by Councilor Angelita Morillo, it has the support of District 4 Councilor Mitch Green.

“There’s nowhere for people to go, so you’re actually just moving the problem from place to place instead of addressing why people are unhoused in the first place,” Morillo told the Portland Mercury. “On top of that, sweeps cost millions and millions of dollars annually. So, we are wasting a lot of our resources for these short-term solutions.”

“It is a bad, cruel and failed policy when the Trump administration does it,” Green told the Mercury, “and it is a bad, cruel, and failed policy when the city of Portland does it.”

Some link homeless sweeps to deaths.

But Rob Layne Jr., spokesperson for Mayor Keith Wilson’s Portland Solutions programs said 456 people died in Multnomah County while living unsheltered and called moving people into shelters “a life-saving intervention to keep people from dying.”

The mayor’s office issued a statement asking citizens to write their representatives to vote down the amendment.

Many neighborhood activists in Northwest Portland oppose the proposed cut.

“Cutting the Impact Reduction Program does not reduce harm; it increases it,” Stadiumhood Neighbors Chair Michelle Milla wrote in testimony to the council. “Without IRP, hazardous conditions return quickly and risks increase for people living outside who already navigate high-acuity environments. IRP crews often provide the first safe point of contact for unhoused individuals who are ready for shelter or outreach. Removing them eliminates one of the few pathways to services that actually works.

“This proposal reflects a narrow political agenda, not the needs of the city,” Milla concluded.

“Councilor Morillo’s claim that swept individuals have nowhere to go is simply inaccurate,” wrote Linda Witt, who chairs the Pearl District Neighborhood Solutions Shelter Oversight Committee. “Portland now offers shelter beds to all who seek them. No one should be left to endure the trauma of street camping—exposure to theft, assault, rape, and other dangers—when safe, warm beds and supportive services are available.

“Recent city data shows a 23% increase in unsanctioned camp reports between fiscal years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025—an unmistakable signal of rising public concern and a growing number of camps. This trend underscores the need for a robust, well-funded response, not retreat.”