Federal homeless suit against Salinas dismissed.

It’s been about two months since Salinas city officials took steps to enforce a controversial ordinance, removing people's belongings and shelters from the Chinatown area, which displaced an estimated 200 homeless residents. 

The latest in a series of efforts to block those cleanups failed when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the city on Monday. 

The Chinatown encampments, which city officials say were a growing health hazard, are gone, but homeless people became even more invisible as they left the area with the highest concentration of homelessness in Monterey County.

Members of the homeless community and their allies have attempted to stop city officials from clearing their property from public sidewalks and streets, with efforts ranging from a human barricade at the time of the cleanups in April to taken the city to court. There have been several failed restraining orders and a now, a dismissed federal class-action suit against the city.

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The latest effort to block the city's policy was the federal suit. On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins dismissed the case against the city, filed by a homeless group represented by attorney Anthony Prince. 

The suit, which was filed last December, claimed the city ordinance was unconstitutional for allowing city employees to confiscate the personal property of homeless people during sweeps.

The court determined city officials acted lawfully when enforcing the ordinance.

Prince said in the past he was working pro bono for homeless clients. Now that the judge has dismissed the case, he will have to foot the bill for all legal fees and the cost of the suit.

The city will assume its own costs for the legal fight.

Salinas City Attorney Chris Callihan and Prince were not immediately available for comment.