The ‘No Homeless Detention Centers Act’ Pushes Back Against a Growing Wave of State-Level Detention Proposals
A group of lawmakers has introduced an unprecedented bill to prevent people who are homeless from being sent to camps against their will.
The bill, known as the “No Homeless Detention Centers Act,” would prohibit the federal government from funding programs that force homeless people into shelters, camps, or other facilities against their will. If passed, the bill would also prevent detention facilities from forcing people who are homeless to work in exchange for a place to stay.
It was introduced at a time when multiple states are considering creating large-scale homeless campuses, some of which include involuntary detention policies. Some of those policy proposals have been put forward by The Cicero Institute, a right-wing advocacy group led by billionaire Joe Lonsdale that has influenced several policies regarding homelessness during the second Trump administration.
“No one should look at a person who is homeless and think the answer is to lock them up or make them work for a place to sleep,” said Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, during a press conference announcing the bill. “People need housing, not cages. They need support, not forced labor. At a time when homelessness is growing, and housing is becoming more and more unaffordable, we should be investing in getting people into homes—not building cruel encampments and criminalizing people for trying to survive.”
An Unprecedented Response to a Growing Threat
The “No Homeless Detention Centers Act” is unprecedented in modern history because the federal government has not actively sought to intern a group of people since World War II, when Japanese Americans were forced into camps against their will.
However, the Trump administration has shown that it is contemplating this possibility to address the rising tide of homelessness in America. In 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” which explicitly called on cities to address homelessness as a criminal justice issue rather than a housing problem.
That executive order inspired, in part, Utah’s Republican government to begin pursuing a 1,300-bed homeless campus outside of Salt Lake City. The campus includes 300 beds reserved for involuntary commitment of people experiencing chronic homelessness with severe mental and physical disabilities.
Meanwhile, the Cicero Institute has been lobbying state governments to adopt its model legislation to increase criminal penalties against people who are unsheltered. The legislation includes provisions to ban camping on public property and impose severe financial penalties on cities that do not reduce their homeless populations.
These lobbying efforts have ramped up following the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which held that fines, tickets, and arrests for sleeping outside are not considered cruel and unusual punishment. According to the ACLU, more than 300 cities have adopted new laws criminalizing homelessness since the ruling was handed down.
“We shouldn’t have to be here today, introducing the No Homeless Detention Centers Act, legislation restricting federal funds from going to detention camps for Americans who can’t afford the rent,” Eric Tars, senior policy director at the National Homelessness Law Center, said in a statement.
“But we are here today because it is necessary to fight back against the Trump Administration that is aggressively erasing decades of data-based progress on solving homelessness and instead promoting jails, labor camps, warehouses, and asylums, not because there is any evidence to support them, but because the right-wing Cicero Institute is spoon-feeding Trump detention policies that will enrich its billionaire-backers financially – and benefit him politically,” he added.
Advocates like Setareh Ghandehari, advocacy director for Detention Watch Network, argued that the Trump administration’s moves have laid bare its intent to “vilify homeless people” while enriching private prisons and surveillance companies. Ghandehari added that a similar situation is already playing out for immigrants caught up in the web of abuses from the Trump administration.
“Trump is carrying out a cruel and multi-layered detention expansion plan as part of his mass deportation agenda, locking up tens of thousands of people in facilities rife with egregiously poor conditions, medical neglect, and a culture of violence that results in system-wide abuses, including death,” Ghandehari said. “That’s why we are alarmed by the Trump administration’s efforts to criminalize and detain people without homes.”
Homelessness Rises as Federal Support Shrinks
The bill was also introduced as cities continue to grapple with the twin crises of rising rates of homelessness and reduced federal funding for homeless services. Cities ranging from Long Beach, California, to Atlanta, Georgia, recorded increases in homelessness over the last year as home prices continue to increase economic pressure on low-income households.
At the same time, the Trump administration has directed federal agencies to stop funding Housing First initiatives, which is the best evidence-based tactic for reducing homelessness. That directive comes directly from Project 2025, a more than 900-page outline created by the Heritage Foundation for the second Trump administration. The document calls on the federal government to abandon Housing First in favor of more temporary solutions to homelessness, like substance abuse treatment and mental health counseling.
It also inspired the Department of Housing and Urban Development to revise its Continuum of Care grant program, the largest single source of federal funding for homeless services. Some of the proposed changes included limiting the amount of money that can be spent on permanent supportive housing and funneling more money to religious groups that serve people who are homeless. So far, a federal judge has blocked those attempts, but lawmakers remain concerned that the department will continue the efforts anyway.
“We should be operating from the fundamental truth that every person deserves a roof over their head and a safe place to sleep,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat from Washington, said in a statement. “When rent, grocery, and gas prices are skyrocketing, and Trump has cut healthcare for tens of millions of people, it is absolutely wrong to criminalize the inability to afford a home.”
