Palantir co‑founder Joe Lonsdale has promoted policies that criminalize public camping and sleeping, influencing the Trump administration’s homelessness approach. Lonsdale opposes housing first strategies and argues that fines and arrests will compel homeless individuals to seek mental health treatment. He has worked through the Cicero Institute, which helped pass anti‑camping laws in 16 states and 241 pieces of legislation in the past five years. In 2024 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Grants Pass that camping bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment, even when incarceration is the only alternative. That decision supported a federal executive order issued by President Trump that mirrors the Cicero Institute’s proposals. Data from a study of 100 cities found that criminalization ordinances did not reduce homelessness counts. Dr. Margot Kushel of the University of California, San Francisco said fining people does not lead to treatment and noted that Medicaid cuts have limited health options for the unsheltered. Advocates for the unhoused, including the National Homelessness Law Center, argue the policy endangers roughly 700,000 unsheltered people and have sued the administration. They say the administration’s actions are closely tied to Lonsdale and the Cicero Institute. OpenGov co‑founder Zac Bookman described Lonsdale as a modern knight with a code of honor, while critics view his efforts as harmful. The impact of the policy remains uncertain as legal challenges proceed and the administration continues to implement the directives.