Criminalizing Homelessness: The U.S. Crackdown on the Unhoused & Nonprofits
As homelessness hits record highs, the U.S. is choosing criminalization over solutions.
Homelessness in the U.S. has surged 18% in just one year, the most significant single-year increase ever recorded. Over 650,000 people are now without stable housing, and 36% are sleeping outside, not because they want to, but because there aren’t enough shelters, beds, or affordable homes available.
At a time when solutions are desperately needed, the U.S. government isn’t stepping in to help. Instead, it’s doing the opposite: attacking the organizations providing housing and support.
The FBI has launched an investigation into Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit that has helped build more than 800,000 homes worldwide for people in need. At the same time, the Trump administration is moving to eliminate the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the only federal agency dedicated to fighting homelessness.
Instead of solving the problem, the government is targeting those who do.
This isn’t just political negligence. It’s a deliberate agenda, one that criminalizes homelessness, dismantles safety nets, and ensures poverty is punished instead of prevented. The question is: Why?
See our reporting here on the rise in homelessness:
The Attack on Habitat for Humanity & the Legacy of Jimmy Carter
Few organizations have done more to combat homelessness than Habitat for Humanity. Since its founding, it has helped millions of people move into stable, affordable homes, often stepping in where the government has failed.
No one embodied this mission more than Former President Jimmy Carter, who spent decades working alongside volunteers to build homes for those in need. Even into his 90s, Carter could be seen with a hammer in hand, showing the world that housing is a human right.
Now, just months after Carter’s passing, the FBI is going after Habitat for Humanity. Their alleged crime? Receiving grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Biden’s climate initiatives. The official investigation cites “conspiracy to defraud the federal government.” In what appears to be a politically motivated attack, the administration has frozen the nonprofit’s bank accounts, crippling its ability to operate.
Let’s be clear: Habitat for Humanity is not a political organization. It is a lifeline for thousands of families. But instead of expanding its work, the government is actively trying to shut it down.
Trump’s Executive Order: Dismantling the Only Federal Homelessness Agency
As if this attack weren’t enough, Trump’s administration issued an Executive Order eliminating the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) close to midnight on Friday, March 14, 2025. This was the only federal agency fighting homelessness, coordinating local, state, and national efforts to provide housing and resources.
Why kill it? Because a functioning agency forces the government to acknowledge the crisis. If you eliminate the council, you eliminate the official statistics, the coordination, and the accountability. Without it, homelessness becomes even easier to ignore—or worse, justify criminalizing.
And that’s exactly what’s happening.
See our article here about the executive order that attempts to dismantle seven federal agencies created by Congress:
And this article about the dismantling of this agency and an agency focused on workers rights:
Criminalizing the Homeless Instead of Housing Them
In an increasing number of places in the United States, laws are in place specifically to punish those experiencing housing insecurity and those who aid them. The specifics vary, but the overall message is the same: being homeless is a crime.
It’s now illegal to sleep outside in many cities.
Public spaces can include “homeless-proof” benches, often equipped with spikes or other impediments to lying down.
Food-sharing bans make it illegal to feed homeless people.
Related bans prevent individuals and organizations from providing resources such as blankets, toiletries, and other essential items.
Encampments are being destroyed, leaving people with nowhere to go.
Police sweeps confiscate personal belongings, IDs, and medications.
And the crackdown is about to get even worse.
The Supreme Court’s Role: A Green Light for Criminalization
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson has made it legal for cities to criminalize homelessness.
At the heart of the case was a question: Can cities fine, ticket, or arrest homeless people for sleeping in public when no shelter beds are available? Lower courts previously ruled that this violated the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. But in a 6-3 decision, the conservative-majority Supreme Court overturned that ruling.
The Conservative Justices' Argument:
The law criminalizes conduct (camping in public), not status (being homeless).
Cities should have the power to decide how to regulate public spaces.
The Eighth Amendment doesn’t prevent cities from banning camping, even if people have nowhere else to go.
The Liberal Justices' Dissent:
The ruling effectively makes homelessness a crime; if there’s nowhere else to go, people are punished simply for existing.
It ignores the reality of mass homelessness and the failure of cities to provide solutions.
It opens the door for mass roundups and increased incarceration of the unhoused.
With this ruling, cities now have the legal cover to jail homeless people en masse. Instead of offering housing solutions, they can criminalize poverty.
Who Benefits? Follow the Money
Why would a nation want to punish the most vulnerable? Consider who profits from their misfortune.
Private Prisons & the Police State
More homeless arrests mean more inmates, which profits private prison corporations.
Police budgets grow as cities prioritize enforcement over housing.
Corporate Landlords & Developers
Keeping housing scarce drives up rent, ensuring record profits for real estate investors.
Gentrification pushes the poor out while luxury developments replace affordable homes.
Right-Wing Politicians
Criminalizing poverty creates a manufactured crime wave to justify “tough on crime” policies.
Defunding public services shifts resources toward corporate-backed private solutions.
This isn’t incompetence—it’s by design. The goal is to manufacture poverty and then punish people for it.
Where Does This Lead? The Darker Future No One Wants to Talk About
Now that homelessness has effectively been criminalized, what happens next?
Consider the solutions some localities are already proposing.
Some states are already discussing “designated areas” where unhoused people could be forcibly moved.
Arizona has fenced-off encampments under strict surveillance.
New York City’s Mayor Adams is considering using military bases for unhoused people and migrants.
Florida’s Governor DeSantis has suggested forced institutionalization of the homeless.
History tells us how this plays out:
Japanese internment camps (1940s).
The War on Drugs and mass incarceration (1980s-1990s).
Migrant detention centers (2010s-Present).
What starts as "temporary housing solutions" could quickly become detainment centers for the poor. And in a society with a growing wealth divide, more Americans than ever exist precariously on the precipice.
See our reporting on the impact of tariffs here:
The question is: How far will they go before we stop them?
How We Fight Back
📢 Expose the lies. Criminalizing homelessness doesn’t solve it—housing does.
🏠 Demand Housing First policies. Studies show providing permanent housing reduces homelessness by 90%.
🗳️ Vote against politicians pushing anti-homeless laws. Follow the money; who profits from criminalization?
📣 Support nonprofits & mutual aid groups. The organizations under attack need our help now more than ever.
This isn’t just about homelessness. It’s about who deserves dignity, safety, and freedom in America.
Because once we accept rounding up the homeless, who do they come for next?
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Bibliography:
"City of Grants Pass v. Johnson" Supreme Court of the United States, June 28, 2024. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/23pdf/23-175_19m2.pdf
"City of Grants Pass v. Johnson" SCOTUSblog, June 28, 2024. https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/city-of-grants-pass-oregon-v-johnson/
"U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Grants Pass v. Johnson” Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO), July 18, 2024. https://cohhio.org/statement-on-u-s-supreme-court-ruling-on-grants-pass-v-johnson/cohhio.org
"City of Grants Pass v. Johnson" Wikipedia, last updated March 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Grants_Pass_v._Johnson
"FBI: Habitat for Humanity Among Groups Under Investigation" Newser, March 13, 2025. https://www.newser.com/story/365691/fbi-says-criminal-probe-is-looking-at-climate-groups.htmlnewser.com
"Trump's FBI Moves to Criminally Charge Major Climate Groups" The New Republic, March 12, 2025. https://newrepublic.com/post/192660/trump-fbi-charge-climate-organizationsmrsc.org+6yahoo.com+6newrepublic.com+6
"Court Docs Reveal Citibank Froze Nonprofits' Accounts on FBI's Request" Truthout, March 13, 2025. https://truthout.org/articles/court-docs-reveal-citibank-froze-nonprofits-accounts-on-fbis-request/techcrunch.com+2truthout.org+2newser.com+2
"Habitat for Humanity Faces Uncertainty Amid Federal Funding Cuts" KSAT News, March 10, 2025. https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2025/03/10/habitat-for-humanity-faces-uncertainty-amid-federal-funding-cuts/ksat.com
"Emboldened by Supreme Court, California Turns to Police in Homeless Crisis" Reuters, September 5, 2024. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/emboldened-by-supreme-court-california-turns-police-homeless-crisis-2024-09-05/
"California's Unhoused People Protest US Supreme Court Order: 'Not Going to Push Us Out of View'" The Guardian, November 14, 2024. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/14/california-berkeley-unhoused-protesttheguardian.com+1acluak.org+1
"Fresh Lawsuit Hits Oregon City at the Heart of Supreme Court Ruling on Homeless Encampments" Associated Press, February 15, 2025. apnews.com
"Oregon Judge Pauses Camping Ban Enforcement in City at Heart of Supreme Court Homelessness Ruling"
Associated Press, February 28, 2025.
https://apnews.com/article/4ccfd1f4677019209c26294d00d610b9
Who needs plutocrats and hoarded wealth? Invite you to check out Zeitgeist: A Prophylactic Tale. https://aworldeofwordes.substack.com/p/zeitgeist?r=5d7dmx
Is this the administration’s answer to the Nazi death camps? Free labor camps. Nothing else makes sense.