Where do you live that the shelters are full? In my neck of the woods shelters forbid drugs, alcohol and smoking, and they are never full. The homeless would rather do drugs and sleep on the street than sleep inside.
What is the alternative? That is very simple. Not in the city and not on private property in the country. Go outside of city limits and sleep in the woods.
The real problem is that there is no one to beg from in the woods, and your drug dealer is far away, so they want to be downtown.
“What is the alternative? That is very simple. Not in the city and not on private property in the country. Go outside of city limits and sleep in the woods.”
In the USA all land is either private or government. You cant camp on gubmint land for free indefinitely. There always is a permit you need to buy and/or a time limit. Precisely to eliminate people living in the woods.
So yes, it is becoming a crime to merely exist in the USA if you lose your home and shelters are not available.