大侠行天下日记 我见我闻我思 09/03

休斯敦流浪汉在抗议中

休斯敦市政府以六千五百万元预算在两年中协助解决流浪汉问题， 在疫情期间协助他们之居所和饮食 ，由于疫情关係 ，原本每週四天在市立图书馆广场上发放食物之计划已経停止了一年多， 随着疫情之减缓 ，本週内市立图书馆将再开放， 但是市政府决定将不让救灾单位在广场上继续发送食物 ，因而引起流浪汉们的示威抗议。

目前在大休斯敦地区大约有超过五千名的流浪人口， 他们许多都在高速公路桥下或公共场所紥棚為家， 或在许多十字路沿路乞讨， 已经成為社会上令人厌恶之现象， 就在此时 ，德州州议会通过法律授权各地方政府加强对流浪汉之管理并对许多越轨行罚款惩戒。

美国许多民主党执政的州市政府比较同情弱势， 尤其对流浪汉们有许多特殊之优待， 以致在洛杉磯、旧金山、芝加哥和休斯敦等大城市造成巨大的困扰。

我们要呼吁政府有关单位对此问题加强整顿 。其中包括对那些身体健康这给予再职训练。 建造集中型之住所，来管理这些失业者。

政府之福利政策有些是在养懒人， 他们依赖救济也会造成社会之不安， 是非常严重的社会问题。

   Houston’s Homeless Problem Is A Social Issue

After the pandemic hit the Houston library, it has been shut down since 2005. “Houston Food Not Bombs” has provided meals four nights per week at the library’s plaza. Now the downtown library will open soon, but the group was told they will no longer be welcome there.

The city wants to relocate the group to the property nearby the municipal court, but the homeless people said they have a right to be out in the public space just as much as we do.

Over the last year, the City of Houston and Harris County have worked with the Coalition for Homeless to create a COVID-19 Homeless Housing Program. With a $65 million budget, it will help more than 5,000 homeless in the Houston area.

Today the state of Texas has just passed a law banning homeless encampments on public property and it will go into effect on September 1^st. Violators could be charged with a Class C misdemeanor and could be fined up to $500 dollars.

We are urging the government to solve the fundamental problem to retrain these homeless people in order to let them get back into the job market. We also need to build homes for them in specific areas to provide them with a safe shelter.

This is a very serious social issue. In our nation today many people have become homeless because they want to depend only on government help, especially in big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Houston.