What would you do if you became homeless?

[Cornfed]

Imagine you run out of money and are homeless. Would you kill yourself at that point? Seriously, how could you even escape something like that?

If I ever became homeless, I'd head straight for the Mexico border.

But how would you actually survive as a homeless person in Mexico?

The same as anywhere else. Except in Mexico, not only will the cops generally not bother you, but because of the tropical climate on Mexico's east coast and Yucatan Peninsula, you can eat coconuts, mangos, find a disused plot of land and grow your own food. In much of the USA and all of Canada, you can't do that because the climate is prohibitive to gardening. Also, once you get evicted in the USA, you have nothing to lose by going to Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, or Peru.

Elsewhere you would get welfare. I suspect if you were conspicuously poor and white in various areas you would incur police problems and be deported at some point. I guess everyone knows that not all of Mexico is tropical. You might be right, but I'm hoping I don't end up homeless in Mexico.

[Mercury]

Imagine you run out of money and are homeless. Would you kill yourself at that point? Seriously, how could you even escape something like that?

If I ever became homeless, I'd head straight for the Mexico border.

Homelessness is illegal under Federal law in the United States of America. Every day and night, hundreds of homeless people sleeping under bridges, overpasses, on sidewalks, and even in forest preserves are arrested by the FBI and Homeland Security and are taken straight to Federal lockup, with many of them ending up sentenced to decades in prison. They are locked up with the serial killers, child predators, robbers, burglars, and violent felons.

In Mexico, the police don't generally harass homeless people like that. In Mexico, homeless people don't usually go to jail for sleeping under a bridge, in a forest preserve, or in a tent city.

Is this true? If what you're saying is true then that is f***ing awful! A testament to how f***ing disgusting this current system is!

It's very true. Homelessness is a Federal crime in the United States of America. Punishable by up to 90 years in prison.

[Natural_Born_Cynic]

I don't get it, why not San Francisco? Much cheaper plane ticket, California is a liberal state, and San Francisco provide good government & local benefits for homeless people. Plus the homeless can supplement their income by stealing everything they need in stores. Remember, shoplifting up to $950 is a misdemeanor. The shop employees can't stop you or they get fired by the store, they can report you nevertheless, the police will let you go even if you get caught and the prosecutor won't even bother to investigate your case.

Because even in San Francisco, the FBI and Homeland Security will arrest you for sleeping on the sidewalk. Same with Los Angeles and San Diego.

Uh.. no they don't. Even the cops can't do anything about the homeless problem in San Francisco, LA and San Diego.
WTF is the FBI and Homeland Security gonna do? It's not within their jurisdiction.

[Mercury]

I don't get it, why not San Francisco? Much cheaper plane ticket, California is a liberal state, and San Francisco provide good government & local benefits for homeless people. Plus the homeless can supplement their income by stealing everything they need in stores. Remember, shoplifting up to $950 is a misdemeanor. The shop employees can't stop you or they get fired by the store, they can report you nevertheless, the police will let you go even if you get caught and the prosecutor won't even bother to investigate your case.

Because even in San Francisco, the FBI and Homeland Security will arrest you for sleeping on the sidewalk. Same with Los Angeles and San Diego.

Uh.. no they don't. Even the cops can't do anything about the homeless problem in San Francisco, LA and San Diego.
WTF is the FBI and Homeland Security gonna do? It's not within their jurisdiction.

When the FBI and Homeland Security arrest homeless people for sleeping on the sidewalk, they take them to Federal lockup. They also can take you to the local county jail and contact the local/county law enforcement in regards to the situation. The entire United States of America, all 50 states and DC, along with every single county, city, and metropolitan area in each state, is within the jurisdiction of the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals, and even the U.S. Army National Guard and military.

[MrMan]

I don't get it, why not San Francisco? Much cheaper plane ticket, California is a liberal state, and San Francisco provide good government & local benefits for homeless people. Plus the homeless can supplement their income by stealing everything they need in stores. Remember, shoplifting up to $950 is a misdemeanor. The shop employees can't stop you or they get fired by the store, they can report you nevertheless, the police will let you go even if you get caught and the prosecutor won't even bother to investigate your case.

Because even in San Francisco, the FBI and Homeland Security will arrest you for sleeping on the sidewalk. Same with Los Angeles and San Diego.

Uh.. no they don't. Even the cops can't do anything about the homeless problem in San Francisco, LA and San Diego.
WTF is the FBI and Homeland Security gonna do? It's not within their jurisdiction.

When the FBI and Homeland Security arrest homeless people for sleeping on the sidewalk, they take them to Federal lockup. They also can take you to the local county jail and contact the local/county law enforcement in regards to the situation. The entire United States of America, all 50 states and DC, along with every single county, city, and metropolitan area in each state, is within the jurisdiction of the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Marshals, and even the U.S. Army National Guard and military.

Do you have any news articles on the FBI arresting people for being homeless or sleeping on the street? Have you seen it yourself? Or is this another one of your dystopian lies?

In general, sleeping on the sidewalk is nit going to violate a ___federal___ law.

[Yohan]

Imagine you run out of money and are homeless. Would you kill yourself at that point? Seriously, how could you even escape something like that?

I think this depends on the individual and his or her situation BEFORE running out of money and being homeless.

I will surely not kill myself but try to sort it out quickly.

It is not possible for me to run totally out of money as I receive a good monthly retirement allowance and have medical insurance up to end of life, but about being homeless unexpected is not impossible, for example facing suddenly a strong earthquake or fire or landslide .....

I cannot be kicked out from my present home as I am the owner and have no payment obligation like a loan of the condominium unit in Japan and same also with the other one in Thailand, but it is not impossible that they might be damaged somehow and it is impossible to live there any longer.

My wife and I have family members living in other areas in Japan and we have frequent contact with them, we will just ask them to help us with some money and accommodation for a while until we can regulate our situation.

[Yohan]

Do you have any news articles on the FBI arresting people for being homeless or sleeping on the street? Have you seen it yourself? Or is this another one of your dystopian lies?

In general, sleeping on the sidewalk is not going to violate a ___federal___ law.

Mercury is exaggerating as always, but there are indeed countries where being homeless and sleeping on the sidewalk is an offence - especially in Singapore. You might be arrested, checked for drugs and spend a while in jail, even a few months, to recover - this harsh way of justice was strongly criticized by the foreign press - human rights etc - but they also had to admit that such people after their release were much healthier than before their arrest and able to do some simple job, earning some money and not homeless any longer as the government offers some kind of cheap accommodation for them.

There are also some countries which have rules not against being homeless, but to show up as beggars. Not the beggar will be punished but the person who gives something to them. Philippines has such laws, but in a Christianity orientated society it is difficult to enforce them and to convince people who are into Christianity not to give anything to them, especially to child beggars, as this chaotic country has at least one million children living in the streets and sleeping somewhere in the slums.

[Voyager1]

I think if I became homeless I'd try to get a van and travel across the country. There is a YT series about that called Van Life. Johnny FD was going to do that.

[HouseMD]

I don't get it, why not San Francisco? Much cheaper plane ticket, California is a liberal state, and San Francisco provide good government & local benefits for homeless people. Plus the homeless can supplement their income by stealing everything they need in stores. Remember, shoplifting up to $950 is a misdemeanor. The shop employees can't stop you or they get fired by the store, they can report you nevertheless, the police will let you go even if you get caught and the prosecutor won't even bother to investigate your case.

Because even in San Francisco, the FBI and Homeland Security will arrest you for sleeping on the sidewalk. Same with Los Angeles and San Diego.

Uh.. no they don't. Even the cops can't do anything about the homeless problem in San Francisco, LA and San Diego.
WTF is the FBI and Homeland Security gonna do? It's not within their jurisdiction.

Mercury sounds like a homeless psych patient that thinks the FBI and Homeland Security are out to get him because he's homeless, when in fact it's first responders trying to get him help because he's so psychotic he can't function

[Cornfed]

It wouldn't surprise me if the feds had the possibility to do what Mercury is saying, but obviously it is not universal or even particularly common.

[Natural_Born_Cynic]

Yeah the Feds are too busy catching domestic terrorists and pedophiles. Homeless people are not on their priority list. That's up to the local police, but as I mentioned before... their hands are tied. You can loot, get high, and get welfare from the city and no one can stop you.

[HouseMD]

Yeah the Feds are too busy catching domestic terrorists and pedophiles. Homeless people are not on their priority list. That's up to the local police, but as I mentioned before... their hands are tied. You can loot, get high, and get welfare from the city and no one can stop you.

Plenty of local news stories about guys with even violent crime histories and 40+ pending charges being let go care of "bail reform." Many of them even mock the judges and police on the way out about how they will offend again within the day

[Natural_Born_Cynic]

Yeah the Feds are too busy catching domestic terrorists and pedophiles. Homeless people are not on their priority list. That's up to the local police, but as I mentioned before... their hands are tied. You can loot, get high, and get welfare from the city and no one can stop you.

Plenty of local news stories about guys with even violent crime histories and 40+ pending charges being let go care of "bail reform." Many of them even mock the judges and police on the way out about how they will offend again within the day

Yep! And in San Francisco you can steal up to $950 of merchandise and get charged with misdemeanor. However, the shop employees can't stop you or they will get fired by the shop, the police can't arrest you or even if they do, they will let you go, and the prosecutor doesn't even bother to investigate the case. I believe, it's still going on right now.

[MrMan]

I recently saw a homeless-looking man accepting money from someone drive by on a state highway. I heard 'No pan handling'. There was a cop in a car speaking through his microphone. The homeless looking man walk off.

Some areas have laws against sleeping in certain places and laws against pan handling. Those are local ordinances, not federal laws that get the FBI involved.

[MrMan]

Federal laws do not typically delve into this level of crime. Murder is not a federal crime, typically, unless it is a federal official. There may be some laws governing the military and seaways that are not under any state. But typically, murder is the domain of the state.

Murder most certainly IS a Federal crime!

I am pretty sure there is no federal law against murder, not unless it is a US official or involves the military or some special case. If you murder a federal judge or the president or senator, that might be against federal law. But murder is generally handled by the states.

Credit card fraud is a Federal crime.

It could be, especially if it is interstate.

Statutory rape is a Federal crime.

If you take a minor over state borders, you could violate the Mann act. There might be federal laws against this, but site it. I think the government regulates this sort of thing overseas and in US waterways, and leaves the in-state rape activities to states to regulate. The constitution leaves rights not given to the federal government to the states and to the people. Of course the federal government honors that provision of the constitution less and less over time.

Contributing to the delinquency of a minor is a Federal crime. Kidnapping is a Federal crime.

Prove it. Quote the laws. If kidnapping involves crossing state lines, probably.

Possession of cocaine is a Federal crime. Child pornography is a Federal crime. Terrorism is a Federal crime.

Probably. I'm not sure about child porn if it doesn't cross state borders. Drugs is one of those areas where the federal government hasn't followed constitutional restrictions, IMO.

Have you ever taken a law class? I have, in high school, and also once as a grad student. And I taught law at a university once, because I was technically qualified due to accreditation requirements, the best qualified among the faculty, in fact. But I wasn't practically qualified and I learned a lot of law for that class.