Proximally, they are. But all too many people point to that as the One True Cause of the homelessness surge, when it is not. The two factors I pointed out - illegal immigration and an increasingly brutal workplace - are topics that news outlets shy away from, for political and business reasons. It's infuriating.

I would take all this a step farther, in fact: the recent surge in illegal immigration is, itself, a proximal cause; that phenomenon is being now driven by climate change. But again, you don't usually hear that mentioned when people and news outlets discuss illegal immigration.