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University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review

Abstract

This Article provides an analysis of homelessness across four Caribbean localities—the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. Each locality brings a diverse history connected to colonial legacies and realities from Spain, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They capture a cross-section of the Caribbean and reveal that homelessness is shaped by legal and governance systems rooted in colonial inheritance that promote exclusion over social protection: from vagrancy laws that regulate presence in public space to land systems that legalize dispossession and facilitate displacement. Laws punishing vagrancy and life-sustaining activities serve as instruments of social control that systematically target and marginalize migrant, gender-nonconforming, and disabled populations. Intersecting marginalized identities, including on the basis of race, gender, and age, intensify this exclusion. At the same time, government policies render homelessness invisible in both law and data. Addressing homelessness requires its recognition as a systemic injustice rooted in historical exploitation and sustained by contemporary governance failures, rather than as an individual failing. Effective responses are rights-based and focus on root causes, rather than punishing individuals. This entails implementing protective legal frameworks, as well as support for community-led initiatives. Constitutional recognition of housing rights and international human rights commitments provide important normative foundations but require enforcement and accountability. Local participatory initiatives demonstrate community capacity to address housing insecurity that should be supported and expanded.

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