PORTLAND, Ore. In news that sounds like a rejected Onion headline but is unfortunately very real, Portland Mayor Keith Wilson has announced the city will once again begin enforcing its camping ban starting Nov. 1.
Yes, the same ban that originally went into effect in July 2024, paused in February 2025, and then quietly sat in the corner gathering dust is now being dusted off and rebranded as a bold solution to end unsheltered homelessness. By the end of the year, no less.
The plan? Hand out $100 fines or a week in jail to people with no money and no homes. Totally foolproof.
The ordinance technically prohibits camping on sidewalks, blocking businesses, or setting up in areas marked no trespassing. The reality, of course, is that enforcement has been about as consistent as Oregon sunshine in February. One moment it’s on, the next it’s paused, and now it’s being restarted like a Netflix show nobody really asked to see again.
In a statement provided to FOX 12, the mayor says:
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“We cannot arrest our way out of homelessness, nor should we. We must, however, return to enforcing our existing codes on open drug use, illegal dumping, blocked right-of-way, fire, and other sanitation and quality of life issues. Individuals who engage in unlawful behavior will be subject to citation. These citations will involve warrant checks.
Portland now has consistent available capacity in our lifesaving shelters, and by December 1st we will ensure that every Portlander who wants a bed will have one. To deliver on this promise, we are expanding overnight shelter beds, developing day centers and secure storage facilities, and deploying outreach workers trained to connect people to vital treatment resources and reunification services. We will educate our most vulnerable neighbors about these options as we repair, restore, and revitalize safety and livability in Portland.”
But don’t worry. The city assures us this time it’s serious.
Officials say violators will first be offered “diversion programs.” If they don’t take those? Out comes the $100 fine or jail cell. Because nothing says compassionate governance like criminalizing people for sleeping on sidewalks while the housing crisis continues to spiral.
Mayor Wilson even insists “We cannot arrest our way out of homelessness, nor should we.” Then, in nearly the same breath, says the city is absolutely going to start citing people, complete with warrant checks.
This is not satire.
In the mayor’s statement, he lays out his master plan: more shelter beds, new day centers, secure storage for belongings, and outreach workers to connect people to treatment and reunification services. And by December 1, he claims, every Portlander who wants a bed will have one.
You heard that right. A crisis decades in the making is going to be resolved in a couple of months because the city has suddenly found enough shelter capacity. If you believe that, I’ve got a bridge in St. Johns I’d love to sell you.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because Oregon leaders keep announcing shiny new plans that boil down to the same thing: more taxes, more rules, more promises that never quite materialize. Just last week we covered Tina Kotek’s latest tax schemes disguised as solutions. Now here comes Portland City Hall pretending it’s going to solve homelessness with fines and citations, as though tickets are some kind of golden ticket to stability.
What makes this even more jaw-dropping is Oregon’s whiplash drug policy. The state first decriminalized hard narcotics under Measure 110, which critics argue only fueled addiction on the streets and made the homeless crisis worse. Then in 2024, lawmakers backtracked and brought criminal penalties back, admitting the grand experiment had failed. So first it was “don’t criminalize,” then it was “oops, never mind.” All the while, Portland and the tri-county region have poured staggering sums into the crisis — over $700 million last year alone spread across more than 500 programs, and $1.7 billion in city-backed housing and services in recent years. Yet despite all that spending, the city’s latest solution is to slap $100 fines on people who already have nothing.
It would almost be funny if it weren’t so tragically absurd. This is not satire. This is Portland.
