Press Conference Today: Berkeley City Hall at noon – Disabled Residents Face Eviction

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2026

Contact:
Yesica Prado, Berkeley Homeless Union
(510) 575-0563
Berkeley.homeless.union@gmail.com

Anthony Prince, Legal Counsel for BHU
(510) 301-1472
princelawoffices@yahoo.com

DISABLED RESIDENTS FACING IMMINENT EVICTION HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE

Berkeley, CA — As the City of Berkeley moves forward with plans to sweep the Harrison Corridor encampment on February 26, 2026, disabled residents and their advocates will hold a press conference to demand that the City halt its eviction and comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

What: Press Conference
When: Monday, February 23, 2026
Where: Berkeley City Hall (2180 Milvia Street)
Who: Berkeley Homeless Union and Where Do We Go?

Case Update

The Berkeley Homeless Union is currently in active litigation against the City of Berkeley for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and other claims. The case, Berkeley Homeless Union et al. v. City of Berkeley et al., Case No. 25-cv-01414-EMC, is pending before U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen.

The case has reached a pivotal moment. On January 13, 2026, Judge Chen issued an order directing both parties to file cross-motions for summary judgment—a rare and significant step that signals the Court’s deep concern about the City’s conduct. The order required the City to answer six specific questions about its failure to accommodate disabled residents, including why it cannot provide moving assistance, identify alternative relocation sites, or explain why the leptospirosis outbreak cannot be mitigated with residents in place.

The City’s response, filed January 29, 2026, largely ignored the Court’s questions. Instead of answering, the City filed a motion to dismiss disguised as a summary judgment motion—arguing that BHU lacks standing, that individual defendants are entitled to immunity, and that the Court had no authority to order the briefing in the first place.

“The City was ordered by this Court to answer specific questions about its failure to accommodate disabled residents, yet, it has not done so,” said Anthony Prince, legal counsel for the Berkeley Homeless Union. “The City now plans to sweep the encampment before the Court can rule on the issue of the ADA, which impacts the majority of our members in that camp. That is bad faith, plain and simple. We are asking the Court to intervene before people are irreparably harmed.”

The summary judgment motions will be fully briefed and set for an in-person hearing on March 20, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. before Judge Chen. That hearing will determine whether the City violated the ADA and whether this Court must intervene to ensure compliance.

But for disabled residents facing eviction on February 24, that date is too late. While only eight BHU members are covered by the preliminary injunction, every resident with a qualifying disability deserves the right to request an accommodation. That is why the Berkeley Homeless Union and attorneys of the related Prado case will be seeking emergency relief.

Imminent Eviction

On February 17, 2026, the City posted notices in the rain ordering all residents to vacate the Harrison Corridor encampment by February 24, 2026. As it could not be read due to the rain, it was posted three times. But this meant, the notice gave disabled residents one week to leave, with no identified location to go to, no assurance that belongings will be stored, and deleted the ADA accommodation advisory from its public notice, ensuring that disabled residents who do not know about their rights will be swept without recourse.

“The City is telling our Union members to leave the camp, but they won’t explain where to safely go,” said Yesica Prado, President of the Berkeley Homeless Union. “The City claims people’s belongings are too dangerous to handle, yet they expect everyone to carry them out in the rain. This is not a public health response. It is a targeted eviction of disabled people.”

Contrary to the City’s claims, public health experts are actively mitigating the rodent problem with residents in place. Alameda County Vector Control has been conducting weekly trapping, testing rats for leptospirosis, and coordinating with businesses—all without requiring anyone to leave. Berkeley Pawfund vaccinated every dog in the encampment for leptospirosis a full month before the City issued its public health alert.

Meanwhile, the City’s own Vector Control program has been absent since July 2023. (See rodent treatment log attached). Its Environmental Health department ignored repeated complaints about active rat burrows on private properties at 1201 and 1150 Eighth Street—properties operating under City-issued encroachment permits. The City created the conditions, refused to fix them, and now blames disabled residents for the result.

What We are Demanding

The Berkeley Homeless Union calls on the City of Berkeley to:

1. Immediately halt the February 24 sweep until every camp resident has had the opportunity to engage in the interactive process to have their accommodation request reviewed.
2. Provide meaningful relocation options before any displacement occurs.
3. Restore sanitation services, including a secured dumpster and weekly garbage pickups.
4. Enforce rodent abatement against the private property owners whose neglect created the public health crisis.
5. Engage in a good-faith interactive process with all disabled residents, as the ADA requires.

Background

The Harrison Corridor encampment has existed for over a decade—a long time refuge to unhoused people in Berkeley. The City’s own data shows that more than 80% of its residents have disabilities. Despite this, the City has refused to provide reasonable accommodations to our members.

The City’s claims of a leptospirosis “crisis” are undercut by its own actions: it sent Point-In-Time count volunteers and city staff into the area with no PPE, while telling the Court the zone is too dangerous for residents to remain.

Yesica Prado
Berkeley Homeless Union Representative

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