SIREN Statement on Santa Clara Board of Supervisors Decision to Build a New Jail in Santa Clara County
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For Immediate Release:
January 26 2022
Contact: Jose Servin, Director of Advocacy and Communication, SIREN
jose@sirenimmigrantrights.org, 714-728-2520
SIREN Statement on Santa Clara Board of Supervisors Decision to Build a New Jail in Santa Clara County
California - Maricela Gutiérrez, the Executive Director of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN) and SIREN Action issued the following statement:
Yesterday’s majority decision by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to move forward with building a third jail in our community was a cruel commitment to racial injustice.
The majority of San Jose residents wholeheartedly oppose the creation of a new jail in Santa Clara County, as evidenced by the nearly unanimous opposition expressed through hours of public comment.
Despite years of community opposition and a bold proposal by Supervisor Susan Ellenberg to expand mental health resource facilities rather than build a new jail, Supervisors Otto Lee, Joe Simitian and Mike Wasserman voted in favor of expanding the carceral state in San Jose.
The recommendations in the Framework for the County’s Justice-Involved Clients report presented at yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting did not reflect the reality that Santa Clara county residents live and experience. The Framework report acknowledges that the County of Santa Clara is committed to reducing the jail population and states that the proposal to create this new jail is supposed to lead to a reduction of population, but as expert advocates with 35 years of experience advocating for immigrant communities that are often the target of incarceration in both the criminal justice system and the immigrant carceral system, the SIREN team is well aware that when a county decides to expand incarceration, they are unequivocally committing to incarcerate more people of color, not the other way around. It is extremely concerning that despite nearly unanimous opposition through public comment yesterday, the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors voted to move towards building a new jail.
Yesterday, SCC County Supervisors had the opportunity to turn the tide on California’s dependence on mass incarceration as an outdated, tried-and-failed practice. What residents in Santa Clara County actually need are housing support services, wrap-around care and mental health services not rooted in the punitive carceral system.
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