America has redefined the meaning of homelessness many times throughout history. In the early 1900s, it was a moral failure; after the Great Depression, a circumstance. In the late 20th century, it was a failure of the welfare state, and the start of the 21st century saw “housing first.”
Now, in 2026, we are once again redefining it. Today, the unhoused are a nuisance, criminals and biohazards. Bills criminalize their existence. Ordinances suffocate them of basic needs. And we are letting it just happen. The epicenter for this fight is right here in Phoenix. And what we’re doing is setting a tone of dehumanization that will echo across the country.
The “housing first” era crescendoed in 2018 with the federal case Martin v. City of Boise. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that criminalizing homelessness when no available shelter beds existed was cruel and unusual, violating the 8th Amendment. The nation’s tone was clear: Housing is needed. After all, if it’s illegal to sleep in public and there’s no housing, where do people go?…