Unchain Whatcom, formerly known as No Whatcom Jails, and all the undersigned residents and organizations of Whatcom County, call on the Whatcom County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Tanksley, and Whatcom County Bureau of Custody and Corrections Services to immediately reinstate in-person visitation.

Since January 28th, 2022, the Whatcom County Jail has suspended in-person visitation for incarcerated people, depriving them of their only opportunity to communicate face-to-face with loved ones. As we approach the third year of this suspension, it is clear that the abhorrent and isolating conditions of incarceration continue to be unimportant to our elected officials.

The Jail’s substitution of video “visits” since suspending in-person visitation is inadequate, not private, and is usually extremely costly for loved ones. Video calls are not visits. In-person visitation is the only free avenue of communication. Other forms of communication—text messaging, phone, and video calls— are contracted out to private companies who charge extortionary rates and share revenues with the County. The County profits off of the deliberate isolation of our community members.

This is only one of many examples of the inhumane conditions of incarceration in Whatcom County, but it could be immediately and easily rectified by the Sheriff's Department without cost. Restoring in-person visitations will allow the community, inside and outside of the jails, to stay connected with loved ones. In-person visitation also provides a clear view of the deplorable and volatile conditions of the Jail, allowing people’s inside experiences to be shared, and for safety networks to endure. In-person visitation and human connection can mean the difference between life and death for incarcerated community members.

At least thirteen people have died in the Whatcom County Jail system since its construction in the 1980s, many by suicide. The most recent death was earlier this year on March 13th, 2024. Andre Haas, a young man incarcerated in the Jail, died of an overdose. His death, like all the other lives lost to incarceration, was preventable. A disproportionate number of lives lost are Indigenous people, particularly from the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe. This is unfortunately parallel to the disproportionate statistics of imprisonment, with Black and Indigenous people incarcerated at five and six times the rate of white people respectively. Reinstating visitation will not address many of the issues that incarceration creates in our community, but it will be an immediate, no-cost, improvement for our community members inside. We all deserve to be connected with loved ones, and to have community support and safety planning to avoid reincarceration. In addition to phone and video calls, we demand the immediate reinstatement of in-person visitation for all incarcerated in Whatcom County.