ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A new decision on a battle over homeless camps is a win for the City of Albuquerque. A judge’s ruling loosens restrictions on what it can and cannot do with them.

This comes after a months-long legal battle that went all the way up to the New Mexico Supreme Court. Now, advocates are left frustrated and concerned.

On Friday the Second Judicial District Court ruled to remove the temporary injunction against the City of Albuquerque on how it handles the removal of homeless encampments.

“At the end of all of that, to get that news, it was really, it was a punch in the gut, it really was,” said Christine Barber, executive director of AsUR New Mexico.

AsUR New Mexico helps homeless women who are victims of abuse, trafficking and domestic violence. She says part of the issue is that homeless people will lose all of their possessions during encampment removals – like sentimental items and their IDs.

Lauren Keefe, an Albuquerque city attorney, says the city had policies in place about camp removal before the injunction.

“To be clear, the city had already been providing notice, the city had adopted policies long before this injunction came down,” Keefe said. “And those policies required 72 hours notice. In most circumstances, the city was complying with that.

Keefe said that right now, there’s not much the city plans to change.

“I have to say my reaction also is that we’re not going to be changing our policies that we bad, policies required notice in the first place, so we’re going to continue to do that,” Keefe said.

Adam Flores, one of the attorneys working on the lawsuit, shared his reaction Saturday.

“I was disappointed, you know, to be honest,” Flores said. “This particular practice of destroying people’s belongings without storing them, without giving people notice or any opportunity to be heard before their property is destroyed, it’s just such a cruel and devastating practice for people who are living outdoors.”

Flores said this isn’t over just yet.

“This is just a preliminary injunction, so the case is still, the case should still go to trial likely next summer,” he said. “We will try to get the injunction made permanent. We’ll make arguments under the New Mexico Constitution and see if we can protect people’s rights that way.”

There’s no trial date set for the case yet. Both sides say the court is likely to wait for a decision to be handed down from the Supreme Court on the Oregon homelessness case. They say that case overlaps with the issues in Albuquerque.