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De-Bug Letter in Response to Mayor Mahan's 2026 Budget Message
Despite the $56 million shortfall, the Mayor is still calling for a budget that prioritizes policing as a strategy to criminalize, unhouse, and gentrify our community while lining the pockets of housing and tech developers to create a San Jose that belongs to the wealthy. It is a budget that deems those of us who have built San Jose for generations as expendable.
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De-Bug’s story-telling highlights those closest to the issues who can share the most powerful, captivating, and insightful story.
Testimony From An Anonymous Family Member Who Saw Her Loved One Being Taken By ICE From The Elmwood Jail
Below is an anonymous testimony from a family member that saw her loved one taken by ICE from Elmwood County Jail. The testimony was read at a protest outside of Elmwood's Visitor Center, right where community members are being kidnapped by ICE. Since June 2025, 46 community members have been detained as they were being released by Elmwood to reunite with their families.
Anonymous
Mar 102 min read
My Brother is Currently at Elmwood Jail & Faces Potential ICE Detainment
As of the beginning of March 2026, there have been 46 people confirmed to have been taken in the last six months by ICE immediately upon release from Elmwood Jail in Milpitas. While County officials say they do not cooperate with ICE the fear of a loved one being detained from Elmwood Jail is real and this author is calling on the County to honor the sanctuary policy.
Anonymous
Mar 53 min read
Reporting From Inside the Santa Clara County Jail – The Same Conditions We Sued the County Over Seven Years Ago Still Persist Today
Due to the Santa Clara County jail not providing adequate healthcare for the detained, they are currently facing a “contempt motion” for being out of compliance of a federal consent decree. The consent decree was the result of the county trying to resolve a lawsuit (Chavez vs. Santa Clara County) over inhumane conditions brought on by those detained. But seven years later, the issues persist. Community organizer and advocate Rudy Cuevas reports from inside the Elmwood Correct
Rudy Cuevas
Feb 263 min read
Protect Your People Public Safety & Justice Committee Community Report: A Sharing of Direct Experience, Analysis, and Critique of the Santa Clara County Criminal Legal System from January-August 2025
Editor's Note: The Protect Your People Public Safety & Justice Committee Community Report was assembled by De-Bug families and organizers...
SV De-Bug staff
Sep 18, 20251 min read
Silicon Valley De-Bug Prisoners Human Rights Advocacy Report 2016-2024
Our Process The majority of those incarcerated and their family members are afraid to file grievances within the jail. They fear...
SV De-Bug staff
Sep 12, 202531 min read
The Office of Correction and Law Enforcement Monitoring… A Broken Promise
illo : AD Avila July 31, 2024 To: County of Santa Clara, Board of Supervisors 70 West Hedding Street East Wing, 10th Floor San Jose, CA...
Jose Valle
Jul 31, 20255 min read
If Santa Clara County Wants to Reduce the Number of People Held in Jail - Bring Back Zero Dollar Bail
Editor's Note: Raj Jayadev outlines why Santa Clara County's use of Zero Dollar Bail during the pandemic is still a reality and should be...
Raj Jayadev
Jul 21, 20256 min read
Responsibility to Shelter Will Lead to Police Violence, Arrests and Incarceration Beyond the Charge Named in the Policy, and Immigration Consequences
Editor's note: Below is a letter submitted to the San Jose City Council before the recent 2025-2026 budget vote that included the...
Raj Jayadev
Jun 17, 20254 min read
The Jail Population is Decreasing, Our People are Coming Home and We Will Continue to Resist a New Jail
In the new presidential regime Author J.M. Valle calls out the lies that crime is rampant and urges the county of Santa Clara to investigate
J.M. Valle
Mar 28, 20253 min read
Build Our Fortresses and Define the Era
Raj Jayadev - SV De-Bug - November 29, 2024 - 8 minute read I was in Norristown, Pennsylvania a couple days after the election. I went to celebrate the five year anniversary of the Reuniting Family Bail Fund and participatory defense hub there. It was an awkward time to be at any sort of celebration with the election results so fresh - and to be in Pennsylvania especially since the state was so prominently featured as a swing state that went Trump. Norristown itself is a so
Raj Jayadev
Dec 17, 20246 min read
DE-BUG X ARCH CITY
This is a recap of De-Bug's week in St. Louis. Meet the people who teamed up with Arch City Defenders to file & WIN historic lawsuits in St.Louis to end debtors prison.
SV De-Bug staff
Mar 8, 20172 min read
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