During Hurricane Irma, Miami officials used a decades-old Florida law to forcibly hospitalize homeless people who refused shelter, claiming that choosing to stay outside meant they were mentally ill. Advocates warn that this sets a dangerous precedent, treating homelessness and personal choice as grounds for incarceration. While officials framed it as lifesaving, critics argue it reflects a broken system that criminalizes poverty instead of addressing root causes.

As Hurricane Irma threatened Miami, the Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust deployed teams with police and mental-health workers to move homeless individuals off the streets. When some refused shelter, officials turned to the Baker Act—a 1970s Florida law that allows for involuntary commitment of those deemed mentally ill—to forcibly detain them.

Ron Book, chairman of the Homeless Trust, defended the move. “I’m not going to be the mayor of Houston. I’m not going to tell people to take a Sharpie and write their names on their arm,” he said, suggesting that staying outside during a hurricane could only be explained by mental illness. Soon, homeless people were being handcuffed and taken away, with psychiatrists backing the claim that their refusal to seek shelter justified confinement.

At first glance, the decision might appear compassionate—an attempt to save lives. But advocates like Fred Friedman, head organizer of Next Steps, see it differently. Friedman, who has lived through both homelessness and mental illness, believes the policy is rooted in stigma and coercion.

“It’s scary,” Friedman explained. “When people make decisions that others don’t like, they define it as crazy. In this case, they lock them up without any due process.”

The concern extends beyond the storm itself. If officials can use mental health law to justify sweeping people off the streets during a hurricane, what will stop them from doing so in other situations? For many advocates, this moment reveals how deeply society criminalizes homelessness—choosing control and confinement over compassion and real solutions.