Utah planning Trump-inspired concentration camp for homeless people

The state of Utah plans to build a $46 million homeless detention camp where unhoused people could be detained against their will and forced to work.

In an interview with Sam Deder’s The Majority Report, Jesse Rabinowitz of the National Homeless Law Center said the plan “should send chills up everyone’s spine.” He went on to say Utah’s plan for the camp was “inspired by the Trump administration’s attacks on homeless people” and that it will be “the largest government run detention camp for homeless people.”

Indeed, during his campaign Trump frequently spoke of creating such camps on the outskirts of cities to warehouse people experiencing homelessness. But how could this legally occur?

Rabinowitz said The Cicero Institute, a think tank funded by billionaires, already has worked to pass laws in states criminalizing homelessness. Utah has a law on the books that says you can’t live outside, Rabinowitz explained. “Your choice is to go to jail or a detention camp, and those aren’t real choices.” He added that “billionaires should be the last people in this country shaping homelessness policy” and said the camp takes money away from solutions that do solve homelessness, such as housing. “At no time in history has rounding people up and forcing people to live in camps been a good thing.” He likened it to forced placements in mental institutions around the turn of the 20th century and debtor’s prison. “We have to stem the flow of people into homelessness and that requires fundamentally reshaping our profit-driven housing system,” Rabinowitz said.

State of Utah offers hopeful picture for site

On its website, the state of Utah describes the camp in much gentler terms than Rabinowitz. The state calls it “reimagining hope” and “a groundbreaking new undertaking—a transformative campus—to help those experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives.”

According to a statement on the website, the camp will be on almost 16 acres on the outskirts of town. The facility will contain 1,300 beds. “Despite tremendous effort, resources, and goodwill across the state, homelessness in Utah has continued to worsen—for both those experiencing it and for our communities,” said Randy Shumway, chair of the Utah Homeless Services Board, in the statement. “The proposed Utah campus will take a human-first approach that provides healing and stability while embedding accountability at every stage. By pairing compassionate support and medical care with clear expectations and opportunities for growth, the campus will help individuals reclaim their inherent dignity, achieve self-reliance, and live drug-free, crime-free, and contributing lives.”According to the statement, a feasibility study has been completed and environmental studies are ongoing. “The next steps are to secure funding partnerships, continue to engage with community stakeholders, service providers, and state leaders to bring the campus to actualization,” the statement explains. It is anticipated that the initial operations of the campus will begin in 2027.

"Our state has long needed more shelter beds and services, and this campus represents a critical step forward in supporting the most vulnerable people in our communities,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. “By providing consistent shelter and wraparound services in one location, this facility could also help Salt Lake City first responders by reducing the number of emergency calls, freeing up law enforcement to focus on public safety, and better connecting people to the help they need.”

A homeless shelter or ‘accountability center?’

On its website, the state of Utah describes the camp in much gentler terms than Rabinowitz. The state calls it “reimagining hope” and “a groundbreaking new undertaking—a transformative campus—to help those experiencing homelessness rebuild their lives.”

According to a statement on the website, the camp will be on almost 16 acres on the outskirts of town. The facility will contain 1,300 beds. “Despite tremendous effort, resources, and goodwill across the state, homelessness in Utah has continued to worsen—for both those experiencing it and for our communities,” said Randy Shumway, chair of the Utah Homeless Services Board, in the statement. “The proposed Utah campus will take a human-first approach that provides healing and stability while embedding accountability at every stage. By pairing compassionate support and medical care with clear expectations and opportunities for growth, the campus will help individuals reclaim their inherent dignity, achieve self-reliance, and live drug-free, crime-free, and contributing lives.”

According to the website of Freedom United, which works to end modern slavery, over 300 beds at the center would be for involuntary commitment. Others would be “an alternative to jail,” as Shumway called it, and an “accountability center” where people could be sanctioned there for about 90 days to detox and receive care. According to an article on the Common Dreams website, a non-profit publication, the center will use beds not slated for civil commitment for “work-conditioned housing,” said Eric Tars of the National Homelessness Law Center. He said that this is “the thing that scares me the most,” because it “means forced labor.”

According to Common Dreams, Tars noted that other anti-homeless bills recently proposed in Republican states have a “forced labor element” to them. In Louisiana, a bill punishing outdoor camping introduced earlier this year proposes requiring those convicted to serve up to two years of “hard labor.” Another bill introduced in West Virginia would have required those arrested for camping to take part in “facility upkeep” and other forms of vocational training.

Rabinowitz: 'Deeply unsettling and unethical'

Rabinowitz said forcing people into institutions is “deeply unsettling and unethical.”

In an ABC4 report, the Salt Lake City station quoted Joseph Grenny, founder of the Other Side Village, as saying the camp should include “involuntary detention” of unsheltered individuals. “I don’t think we need 1,300 beds, I think we probably need a much smaller number,” he said. “What we probably need is a set where people can be involuntarily detained, when necessary.”

He added: “We need to hold people accountable, [even] if that means involuntary detention for a period of time. There needs to be a location where [they are] held accountable long enough that [their] head clears.”