They live in flimsy tents, cardboard boxes and rusty campers in a rodent-infested lot north of Miami International Airport.
Now the 70 child sex offenders who call the makeshift village home must find a new place to reside. Again. (THREAD)
Now the 70 child sex offenders who call the makeshift village home must find a new place to reside. Again. (THREAD)
Miami-Dade County is giving them until Dec. 5 to leave the encampment, citing illegal camping and unsanitary conditions.
But for a group of people who are considered to be social pariahs, their options for moving are few and far between. hrld.us/2XEsLpe
But for a group of people who are considered to be social pariahs, their options for moving are few and far between. hrld.us/2XEsLpe
That’s because Florida law demands that convicted sex offenders live at least 1,000 feet from a school or any place children might gather. But in some counties, like Miami-Dade, it’s 2,500 feet.
It’s not the first time they’ve had to move. In 2009, dozens of sex offenders built a village of makeshift tents and cardboard under the Julia Tuttle Causeway, claiming they had no where else to go. 
As public outrage and debate grew, the sex offender colony moved to a small encampment in the Shorecrest area.
But a Miami commissioner at the time ordered a tiny park to be built nearby, throwing them in violation of the 2,500-foot rule.
But a Miami commissioner at the time ordered a tiny park to be built nearby, throwing them in violation of the 2,500-foot rule.
The sex offenders have also been tossed from an Allapattah trailer park and a warehouse district in Hialeah.
“It’s like a game of Whack-A-Mole,” said Pastor Frank Diaz, who visits camps around Miami-Dade weekly providing food and prayer. “If they’re gone, who cares?”
“It’s like a game of Whack-A-Mole,” said Pastor Frank Diaz, who visits camps around Miami-Dade weekly providing food and prayer. “If they’re gone, who cares?”
So are the policies effective?
Studies over the past two decades suggest the restrictions have not been effective. A 2015 study by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that despite public support, residency restrictions may do more harm than good.
Studies over the past two decades suggest the restrictions have not been effective. A 2015 study by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that despite public support, residency restrictions may do more harm than good.
The forced nomadic existence doesn’t just make life hard for the sex offenders, it also creates a host of problems for law enforcement.
Police lose track of hundreds of sex offenders every month.
Police lose track of hundreds of sex offenders every month.
For the sex offenders, the next destination, for now at least, is uncertain.
Despite lawsuits and pressure from homeless and civil liberties advocates to soften the rules, some people remain unmoved and believe the rules protect the public.
Despite lawsuits and pressure from homeless and civil liberties advocates to soften the rules, some people remain unmoved and believe the rules protect the public.
Diaz, the pastor who works with the camps, said politicians must find an answer to the relentless cycle of uprooting and forced homelessness — especially since decades of data argue the policies haven’t worked well.
“They all have the scarlet letter.” hrld.us/2XEsLpe
“They all have the scarlet letter.” hrld.us/2XEsLpe
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