I think his point was that since everyday survival on the streets is so hostile to homeless people, that prison can be seen as more humane as they get food, water, and shelter in prison while they may not on the streets.

That isn’t an argument for jailing homeless people; its that our criminalization of homelessness needs to stop and we need to instead provide pathways for rehabilitation such as Housing First. Also tackling the root-cause of homelessness that is the private housing market where shelter is an investment instead of a human right, by providing genuinely good public housing

But I can see why it came off that way for someone with your background. Most people are still hostile to homeless people and blame them for the state of the cities, despite them being the major victims of the policies that are creating and profiting off that disparity. I’m glad to hear you were able to make it out of homelessness, despite America’s efforts to make it as hard as possible