Feds Clear Homeless Encampment in Oregon Forest

Earlier this month, federal forest officials conducted what some are calling “the largest eviction of a homeless camp in recent history” outside of Bend, Oregon, where over 100 people have been living in cars and RVs in the Deschutes National Forest.

As Rukmini Callimachi explains in The New York Times, residents were given a deadline to vacate the area, despite some of them living in non-functional vehicles. Many of the Deschutes Forest residents say they will move to another encampment, which authorities plan to vacate later this month — causing, essentially, “perpetual displacement” for hundreds of Oregonians.

“The sweep comes months after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ban on homeless residents sleeping outdoors in Grants Pass, a city located 200 miles south of the current encampment in Bend.” The ruling was widely criticized by advocates for unhoused people who say criminalization only pushes people into more dangerous situations.

The article includes personal stories of residents who struggled to collect their belongings and leave before the deadline. For many, the forest is a last resort, and the federal government is not offering any support to those evicted from the Bend encampment.