Reaching back into Utah’s World War II history, the state’s top-ranking House Democrat sharply criticized plans to place a massive campus for people experiencing homelessness on the west side of Salt Lake City.
“None of us at the state voted for what I call the internment camp that they want to build over here,” Utah House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, said last week, evoking memories of the Topaz internment camp that held thousands of Japanese Americans in the 1940s.
Romero’s comments came as she appeared alongside Rep. Sandra Hollins, Sen. Jen Plumb and Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, all Salt Lake City Democrats, at a legislative session preview hosted by the Westside Coalition. A key point of discussion was the proposed 1,300-bed homeless campus set for the Northpoint neighborhood.
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
The west-side representatives shared concerns about the site, the money that would be required to run it and the suggested models for providing services there. Some officials — including state Homeless Services Board Chair Randy Shumway — and nonprofit leaders have advocated for hosting people there who have been ordered to undergo involuntary treatment for mental health or drug issues.
In an interview, Romero said state leaders should evaluate other models that are known to work and take a more compassionate approach to helping homeless Utahns. She doesn’t want to take a risk, she said, investing heavily in a site that may not be effective.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) House Minority Leader Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, speaks during a rally at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025.
Gov. Spencer Cox’s office referred a request for comment to interim state homelessness coordinator Nick Coleman.
“For a small but especially high-needs population, compassion may mean stepping in to offer recovery through structured intervention and treatment that meets an individual where they are, but does not leave them behind,” Coleman wrote in a text. “Utah is committed to a full continuum of coordinated services that helps people restart their lives with dignity.”
House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Shumway did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The campus is likely to be at the center of discussions around homelessness during the upcoming legislative session after Cox asked lawmakers to spend $25 million to help build the facility. He also proposed putting $20 million in ongoing funding toward targeting Utah’s “high-utilizers” who continually cycle through the homeless services system.
Escamilla told audience members that she planned to run two bills addressing the campus: one that would end operations there if it failed to meet certain safety criteria and another that would offer property tax relief to residents nearby.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) The site of the planned homeless campus is seen in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025.
Plumb accused the Utah Homeless Services Board of drawing up plans for “a warehouse where they could put people that they didn’t want to see.” Hollins, entering her last session, vowed to vote against any bill that would bring the campus to the west side.
State leaders are still deciding how the proposed facility would operate. The next general session of the Utah Legislature begins Jan. 20.
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