Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) introduced legislation last week granting homeless Americans the right to camp on public property, panhandle freely, and access internet service, while calling for $168 billion in cuts to the Defense Department to fund the plan.
The resolution, titled the “Unhoused Persons Bill of Rights,” would direct the federal government to eliminate homelessness by 2029 and establish more than a dozen new legal protections for people living on the streets.
Under the measure, homeless individuals would hold the “right to uninhibited access” to parks, sidewalks, public buildings, transportation, and restrooms. That access would effectively legalize encampments in public spaces across the country.
The bill would also shield homeless people from what Tlaib describes as “banishment” from private property, framing removal from private land as a violation of “fundamental civil and human rights.” Law enforcement, property owners, and businesses would all be barred from what the resolution calls “harassment.”
“Having access to a safe place to live is a human right,” Tlaib said in a statement. “Every year, Congress passes another record-breaking military budget, and President Trump just requested a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget this year. Experts say it would cost a fraction of this to end homelessness in our country.”
The resolution would require the Trump administration to redirect at least $168 billion from defense spending toward homelessness programs. That figure represents roughly 20 percent of the annual U.S. defense budget. Tlaib’s resolution does not specify how the funds would be used.
The measure is nonbinding and does not carry the force of law.
The national homeless population reached 771,000 in January 2024, its highest recorded level, according to a Department of Housing and Urban Development report.
