Alameda County supervisors have made it official: they do not want anyone locked up again at the shuttered Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, whether as inmates or immigration detainees. On Tuesday, the board unanimously approved a resolution opposing any return to correctional use at the site after weeks of neighborhood organizing and chatter that federal agencies or contractors might try to bring the facility back to life.
Board vote and public comment
Board President David Haubert and Supervisor Elisa Márquez co-authored the resolution, which sailed through on a unanimous vote after more than an hour of public comment in which every single speaker backed the measure, according to NBC Bay Area. Haubert has been pushing against any reuse of the site since at least April 2025, when he wrote to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the Department of Homeland Security arguing that the complex should not be repurposed at all. He told colleagues that while the resolution is largely symbolic, it is a necessary statement of where the community stands.
History of abuse and closure
Community anxiety about reopening is rooted in a grim track record. The Bureau of Prisons first shut Dublin down temporarily in April 2024, then made the closure permanent in December 2024, citing staffing shortfalls, safety issues and failing infrastructure, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The final decision followed years of investigations and criminal cases in which several former officers were charged or convicted of sexual abuse, a pattern documented by The Associated Press. Local coverage, including prior reporting that chronicled the prison’s unraveling and the choices that led to its demise, has tracked the facility’s facility's decline.
What elected officials are saying
“We need to invest in people and not in jails and detention centers,” Márquez said during the meeting, as reported by NBC Bay Area. The county’s stance lines up with pressure coming from Capitol Hill: Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier sent a Feb. 19 letter asking the Department of Homeland Security to explain any discussions about using the site and warning that Dublin is not suitable to hold detainees, according to the senators’ office. County leaders and advocates said a unanimous vote at home is meant to give that message extra political weight.
What the vote does and does not do
The resolution does not give Alameda County any legal control over the former prison. County officials acknowledged that they cannot stop a federal agency from deciding how to use its own property next to Santa Rita Jail, a limitation noted by KTVU. Even so, supervisors and community groups framed the unanimous vote as a public rebuke and a way to keep pressure on federal decision-makers, who would have to answer to residents and members of Congress if they tried to flip the lights back on. Activists say they will continue organizing across the Tri‑Valley, pointing to Dublin’s earlier city council vote against reopening as another local line in the sand.
What’s next
County officials plan to keep working with congressional offices and federal agencies while survivors’ groups and immigrant‑rights advocates maintain rallies and petitions in the region. With the Bureau of Prisons’ formal closure already on record, any attempt to reactivate the facility would likely trigger new federal reviews and another round of intense public scrutiny, according to advocates and lawmakers.
