Cicero Institute had an anti-homeless conference in DC

 We’re exposing the Cicero Institute for making homelessness worse—and it’s working

• National Homelessness Law Center 

  From:communications@homelesslaw.org

  To:m.mk@...

  Tue, Aug 25 2026 at 2:31 PM

  Dear Law Center supporters,   In the past few days, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Mother Jones have all reported on Joe Lonsdale and the Cicero Institute’s anti-homeless crusade. The Cicero Institute has managed to fly under the radar despite spreading their backwards policies all across the country. But we’ve been sounding the alarm to ensure that their cruelty won’t go unnoticed—and it’s working.       Quick Links   Our Website   Join Housing Not Handcuffs       Contact Us This year we turned up the pressure on Palantir billionaire Joe Lonsdale and his Cicero Institute for making homelessness worse. We have:   released a report detailing how Lonsdale and his cronies stand to profit from pushing anti-homeless laws and their connections to the private prison industry  protested their anti-homeless conference in DC  continued to expose their cruel and ineffective policies online and in national media.  As a reminder, the Cicero Institute advocates for forced labor, forced treatment, and detention camps for homeless people. Their influence runs from the local level all the way to the White House and now their extreme policies can be found all throughout the Trump administration’s authoritarian approach to homelessness. And recently, Cicero has informed Stephen Miller’s plan to strip the rights of people with disabilities and have discussed gutting the Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA).   Nobody in the richest country in the world should sleep outside. Thankfully we know that housing and supports can an do solve homelessness. We also know that the overwhelming majority of people agree with us. Recent ACLU polling shows that 76% of Americans want to solve homelessness with housing, not handcuffs. Instead of making it a crime to sleep outside, politicians must reject these anti-homeless laws and fix our broken housing system.   We’re not stopping here. We'll keep fighting back until we build a housing system that works for everybody, not just billionaires.     Onward,   The National Homelessness Law Center