ANAHEIM, CA - JANUARY 29: Orange County Sheriff's Deputies talk to a homeless man living along the Santa Ana River Trail in Anaheim, California on Monday, Jan. 29, 2018. He said he has been homeless for three years. (Photo by Paul Bersebach/Orange County Register via Getty Images)
San Jose, California – The San Jose City Council voted 9-2 on Tuesday to adopt a new ordinance allowing the arrest of unhoused individuals for trespassing after they reject three offers of shelter. The move adds a “responsibility to shelter” clause to the city’s existing encampment code of conduct and signals a shift in how the city may handle unsheltered homelessness in the coming years.
The ordinance does not mandate arrest but grants discretion to law enforcement and outreach workers to escalate intervention in cases of repeated refusal. It arrives amid mounting pressure on local governments across California to address visible encampments and public health concerns in a state where an estimated 187,000 people are unhoused—nearly a quarter of the nation’s total.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who proposed the measure, framed the ordinance as a pragmatic and necessary step, not a punitive one. “I don’t want to use the criminal justice system to make vulnerable people’s lives harder,” Mahan said ahead of the vote. “I want to use it as a last resort.”
Supporters say the policy targets a small but persistent group of people who refuse help even when shelter beds are available. The city currently has around 1,400 shelter spaces and plans to add 800 more by year’s end. Mahan emphasized that enforcement would only apply when suitable shelter is offered and available.
Critics, however, see the ordinance as a dangerous shift toward criminalization. Advocates for unhoused residents argue that the policy could worsen the instability of people already living on the margins. “Pushing people with mental health needs or drug addiction into incarceration — without any crime committed — is both inhumane and ineffective,” said Otto Lee, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, who has publicly opposed the measure.
City Council member Pamela Campos, one of two dissenting votes, echoed that concern, saying the burden is being placed unfairly on individuals rather than systems. “We are framing it as a choice when the real culprit is a system that pushes people experiencing poverty into homelessness,” she said during the council meeting.
As part of the rollout, the city will establish a new six-officer quality of life unit within the San Jose Police Department, and people found in repeated violation of encampment policies may be referred to recovery centers or court-mandated treatment programs.
While council members acknowledged the policy won’t provide an immediate solution, they hope it will support longer-term efforts to move people indoors. “I’m hoping we’ll see some incremental improvement,” said Council member David Cohen. “But the reality is that the work we’re doing will take years.”
