El Cajon, California Mayor Bill Wells joins 'Fox & Friends First' to discuss U.S. homelessness hitting record highs.

In a pre-holiday news release, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) revealed that homelessness in the United States has hit a record high.

This troubling milestone is another addition to the lackluster legacies of the Biden administration, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and sanctuary cities, with progressive blue states experiencing the largest surges and costing Americans millions every year, adding to the already out-of-control debt ceiling.

We know nobody chooses to be homeless, and we know that nobody in America deserves to live without a roof over their head, but are these progressive blue states creating an out-of-control spiral because of incredibly poor policies?

A homeless man walks through Los Angeles' skid row on Dec. 12, 2022. (Sarah Reingewirtz/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)

According to HUD’s annual point-in-time survey, homelessness rose by 18% in 2023 and has increased 36% since 2019. More than 770,000 individuals in our country have been experiencing homelessness in shelters, public spaces or other government-supported housing over the past year. However, the report sidesteps any direct accountability of federal or state policies, instead attributing the crisis to broader social and economic factors.

US HOMELESSNESS UP DOUBLE DIGITS, RISING NUMBERS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS, AFFORDABILITY CRISIS AMONG CAUSES

A comparison of homelessness growth between top red and blue states highlights the stark differences in how these states have handled the crisis.

Between 2019 and 2024, California’s homeless........

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