The federal government is about to spend $38.3 billion on ICE detention camp expansion by the end of 2026—roughly the same amount it would cost to substantially end chronic homelessness in America.

Policy experts estimate that ending homelessness nationwide would require $20 to $30 billion upfront using a Housing First model, followed by $10 to $15 billion annually for housing, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and prevention programs. On any given night, roughly 650,000 to 700,000 people experience homelessness in the United States.

Instead, that money is going toward concentration camps.

ICE’s expansion plan includes eight massive detention centers holding 7,000 to 10,000 detainees each, sixteen regional processing centers, ten additional facilities, and twelve thousand new agents. If completed, ICE detention capacity would balloon to approximately 92,600 beds. The broader detention budget exploded from $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2024 to $45 billion.

The agency has already spent more than $500 million buying industrial warehouses across the country to convert into mass detention camps. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, documented purchases in Maryland ($102 million), Arizona ($70 million), Pennsylvania ($207 million across two sites), Texas ($205 million across two sites), and Georgia.

“This is unprecedented,” Reichlin-Melnick wrote on Bluesky.

The Georgia facility alone could detain up to 10,000 people—more than double the capacity of the nation’s largest federal prison. “The federal government hasn’t operated a prison camp inside the United States that large since Japanese Internment,” Reichlin-Melnick noted.

Meanwhile, hunger is on the rise in America as USDA cuts food bank funding. Working families continue to struggle with groceries, housing, childcare, and healthcare costs.

Community pushback has succeeded in some areas. In Oklahoma City, after packed protests and a City Council meeting, a company backed out of selling its warehouse to ICE. In Virginia’s Hanover County, more than 500 people packed a hearing to oppose a proposed facility, and the sale was canceled.

“I’m here to tell you that your people are scared,” Mechanicsville resident Kimberly Matthews told supervisors. “This is where we stop that. This is the line in the sand.”

Of the 70,000 people currently in ICE custody, nearly three-quarters have no criminal convictions at all, according to TRAC Immigration. Conditions in these facilities—many operated by private prison companies under lucrative government contracts—are going “from bad to worse,” with overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, and pregnant women shackled in custody.

The question was never whether America could afford to end homelessness. It’s what we choose to fund instead.