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New Orleans clears homeless encampments near stadium ahead of Super Bowl

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Ahead of the Super Bowl in New Orleans, state authorities have used an emergency declaration to relocate people living on the streets near the Superdome. Governor Jeff Landry called their encampments a security concern. Here's Stephan Bisaha of the Gulf States Newsroom.

STEPHAN BISAHA, BYLINE: Before they were broken up, these encampments were expansive.

KORROY JOHNSON: There must have been probably about two, three, 400 people before these people started taking them away.

BISAHA: Korroy Johnson lives near one of the former encampments that used to be under a highway just a short walk from the Superdome.

JOHNSON: You had tents all around the church, all up, down the street from church to the street all around the corner. Now you can't even find a tent.

BISAHA: What's left includes abandoned clothes, a walker and a deflated air mattress, all under signs that read no encampments. The governor's office set up a transitional center about 6 miles away for people to stay at instead. It's a modified warehouse with about 200 beds, hot meals and heating. It's planned to be open for two months and paid for with millions in state dollars. Going there is supposed to be voluntary, but Angela Owczarek with the homeless advocacy group No Harm (ph) says some people were told they'd be arrested if they didn't.

ANGELA OWCZAREK: And they were separated from their belongings. People's belongings were brought separately from them, and many people have not yet been able to access their belongings again.

BISAHA: Louisiana is far from the only place to sweep away homeless encampments before a Super Bowl and to get criticized for it. There was Los Angeles in 2022, Atlanta in 2019. A couple of blocks from the New Orleans Superdome, Jeremy Davis was asking people for a few bucks. He says no law enforcement told or asked him to leave. He's also not sure if he'd agree to go to the center.

JEREMY DAVIS: I guess it depends on what comes after those three months 'cause the three months give you something to think about, you get what I'm saying?

BISAHA: He wants to know what will happen when the center closes. Mike Steele is a spokesperson for the governor's office, and he says social workers at the center are working to find permanent housing for people.

MIKE STEELE: That's why it's a transition center and not necessarily a shelter. So they want to find solutions for this group and help them take that step.

BISAHA: Local homeless advocates criticize the forced encampment closures but added that given the recent bitter cold weather and snow, the relocations likely saved lives.

For NPR News, I'm Stephan Bisaha, in New Orleans.

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Stephan Bisaha
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