#enforcement   #anti-homeless   #Amarillo   

Amarillo has the highest per-capita rate of unhoused people in the state of Texas. (Amarillo Globe-News, 2022)  People are unable to afford the high prices for rent with the rise in inflation, despite our low cost of living. Unhoused people are people who need food to eat, places to sleep, restrooms, and aid that is not readily available; they should not be harassed by people that we fund from our tax dollars.

We, as citizens of Amarillo, demand the Amarillo City Council, with Mayor, Ginger Nelson; Councilmember Place 1, Cole Stanley; Councilmember Place 2, Freda Powell; Councilmember Place 3, Eddy Sauer; and Councilmember Place 4, Howard Smith recognize and work to protect from retribution the Amarillo CoC committee on criminalization of homelessness in the City of Amarillo. 

Ord. No. 7333, § 1;Ord. No. 7596, § 1 inhumanly distinguishes that people who are unhoused can not be afforded the right to the human function of sleep. The City of Amarillo forces those that do not have resources to not be visibly unhoused when sleeping in public spaces. Having resources should not determine if someone should be allowed to sleep or not, whether that be in public spaces or others. We call on the city of Amarillo to stop enforcement of these ordinances.

Article IV, Sec. 10-3-41 imposes a financial repercussion of $408 on people that already are hit by hard times for asking for help near roads, which is the majority of city infrastructure. We call on the city of Amarillo to stop enforcement of this section. 

Code 1960, § 14-5; Ord. No. 5641, § 1, 10-28-86 demands that people who need to relieve themselves find an appropriate location to do a human function. Dogs have more rights for bodily autonomy than the unhoused. This law shows the failures of our municipality to provide resources to all people. We call on the city of Amarillo to stop enforcement of this code. 

All people deserve to exist without a state demanding and controlling human bodily functions such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and existing. No person should be required to have residency to have rights. City resources are better spent helping improve our material conditions rather than criminalizing the most marginalized people in our city.