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Eight men released from jail thanks to Texas Organizing Project

The Texas Organizing Project raised money to release eight men from jail, who were jailed simply because they couldn't afford to post bond.

Thanks to volunteers, donations, and the Texas Organizing Project, eight men are getting out of jail. It's a process that organizers say helps those too poor to bond out and their families.

"If you don't have money, you don't have money and you can't buy your freedom. That’s unjust. It's unfair," said Mary Moreno with the Texas Organizing Project.

Organizers say that feeding and housing those eight men drains resources that the government could use for roads, schools, and improving society.

"Holding people in jail for two years is expensive. We're all paying as taxpayers,” Moreno said. “So this impacts all of us.”

The group spent $25,000 dollars getting the men out. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar hopes the men who were released seize the opportunity.

For one man, paying bond out meant losing a week of pay, so he stayed in jail. Staying longer means that he would have been in a deeper hole when he finally got out.

"I’d for sure have lost my job. I’d be months behind on my child support. I wouldn't have seen any of my kids, my family, my friends,” he explained.

The Texas Organizing Project will support these men as they transition, including finding housing for those who need it. Sheriff Salazar hopes that they take this opportunity seriously because it may not come again.

"To some of these folks, it might be the first time anyone has shown any faith in them,” Sheriff Salazar said. “I’m asking them not to squander it.”

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