{"id":270658,"date":"2026-04-16T12:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270658\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T12:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T12:13:24","slug":"san-jose-launches-sweep-of-the-jungle-last-major-homeless-camp-in-city-east-bay-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/270658\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose launches sweep of the \u2018Jungle,\u2019 last major homeless camp in city \u2013 East Bay Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A makeshift shelter of wood and tarps crashed down the embankment of Coyote Creek, one of dozens demolished by work crews Wednesday as the city of San Jose began tearing down the Jungle, the last major homeless camp in city limits.<\/p>\n

Nearby, three men scrambled across a makeshift footbridge over the creek, hauling away crates of belongings before the demolition crew arrived.<\/p>\n

About 100 people had lived in the Jungle, off the beaten path and largely hidden from view beneath a forest canopy.\u00a0While San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and city officials\u00a0cracked down on homelessness in other parts of the city, they allowed the community to persist.<\/p>\n

No longer. In San Jose, leaders say they\u2019re removing the camp to help restore water quality in Coyote Creek, an important waterway in Silicon Valley polluted by the encampment and other sources.\u00a0It\u2019s the culmination of Mahan\u2019s strategy to break up encampments, direct residents to the city\u2019s expanded shelter network<\/a>\u00a0and prevent their return. He\u2019s a champion of that tougher approach in the Bay Area, where other cities are following suit.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

At the Jungle, outreach workers have canvassed the camp for weeks to warn residents of the impending sweep and to sign them up for slots at tiny homes or motels. After every resident is moved \u2014 willingly or forcibly \u2014 police and city staff will patrol the site to prevent people from returning. After that, it could take months more to clean the site, a steep, muddy riparian zone filled with trash and waste.<\/p>\n

The clean-up began\u00a0with less drama than the last major operation in the Jungle, in 2014. Then, residents and nonprofit staff were so overwhelmed by human suffering that they wept,<\/a>\u00a0and protesters gathered to condemn the sweep.\u00a0City officials placed some residents in permanent housing, but others were given vouchers and dispersed throughout San Jose.<\/a><\/p>\n

Vanessa Butera, now San Jose\u2019s acting division manager for homelessness response, remembers the misery that day. She worked for a homeless service provider at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cold, rainy, wet. People were distraught. There was not a lot of organization. People were scattered and not sure what they were going to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Now, Butera said, \u201cThis has gotten much more organized and methodical about where we place people, what we offer people.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, most residents said they were destined to move into a new tiny home village in north San Jose<\/a>, the city\u2019s newest shelter option. But not everyone.<\/p>\n

While some residents sat and waited for transportation to their tiny homes, Martin Nava stood heartbroken at a friend\u2019s shelter.<\/p>\n

Outreach staff had promised him a tiny home, and he had already given away everything \u201cbut the clothes on my back,\u201d Nava said. Then, they mixed up his paperwork, he said.<\/p>\n

Two outreach staffers with PATH, a nonprofit service provider, trundled down the dirt road in an SUV. They saw Nava and briefly apologized.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really sorry that happened to you,\u201d one said, adding that she\u2019d work to find him a temporary home at a motel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can\u2019t make any guarantees,\u201d she said, before driving away.<\/p>\n

That obliterated any trust Nava had left. He had no plan, no income, no place to go, and no hope, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I don\u2019t depend on nobody,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I don\u2019t trust nobody. Because of this shit.\u201d<\/p>\n

His thoughts turned dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re putting me back on the streets,\u201d Nava added. \u201cI can terrorize the streets and be a really terrible person. I don\u2019t want to do that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MartinMartin Nava talks about his living situation in a friends structure in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

About 30\u00a0other residents had already moved to the tiny home site as of Tuesday afternoon, said San Jose Housing Director Erik Soliv\u00e1n. In February, outreach workers wrote a list of 109 residents and offered them shelter. As of Tuesday, all had accepted, Soliv\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

But he acknowledged the concerns of advocates, who said not everyone had been offered shelter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, we don\u2019t have beds for the thousands of other people who could potentially come to the site,\u201d Soliv\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

Pedro Reyes, who lived in the Jungle for about a year, said he was offered a tiny home, which he visited on Tuesday. He said it lived up to its name as he picked through his old home, a plywood structure at the creek\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rooms are hella small,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A man carries a bin of items out of the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from Tucker Construction clear campsites in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from Tucker Construction clear campsites in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from Tucker Construction clear campsites in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"San<\/p>\n

San Jose Animal Care & Services workers keep an eye on a dog as campsites are cleared in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from Tucker Construction clear campsites in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

\"Workers<\/p>\n

Workers from Tucker Construction clear campsites in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

A man carries a bin of items out of the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

City crews had not yet arrived to demolish his old dwelling. He summed up the scene matter-of-factly.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople aren\u2019t upset,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to move. It\u2019s an obligation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many residents interviewed by this news organization consider the tiny homes a downgrade, and none were thrilled with the forced migration there.\u00a0At the tiny home site, residents will live in close proximity, use shared bathrooms, and have to abide by community rules. They will have much less space and likely less privacy. In the Jungle, people tend to live privately in wide lots, shaded by trees, in homes of salvaged wood and tarps.<\/p>\n

As the sweep unfolded, dozens of laborers moved methodically through the forest\u2019s steep and muddy terrain. They tore and chainsawed structures into heaps, then collected their remains in tarps and truckbeds. Many of the workers clad in hard hats and yellow vests were contractors working for Tucker Construction.<\/p>\n

\"Newly-bornNewly-born rats lay in an egg carton in the homeless encampment known as the Jungle in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. A San Jose Animal Care & Services worker took the animals. (Nhat V. Meyer\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their task is gargantuan. The site has whole hillsides of trash. In one, an empty egg crate was filled with newborn rats.<\/p>\n

Unhoused residents rounded up their missing animals. Two or three pets will be allowed in the tiny homes, Soliv\u00e1n said. Cats meowed in travel crates. Badged animal control agents hunted for strays with catch poles, and chickens roamed freely.<\/p>\n

For Nava and others promised no\u00a0shelter, officials are adamant they won\u2019t be able to return to this swath of Coyote Creek.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday morning, officials added the Jungle to San Jose\u2019s list of no-camping zones, alongside 20 others. Police plan to patrol the densely wooded area, along with outreach workers and city staff, to prevent anyone from moving back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A makeshift shelter of wood and tarps crashed down the embankment of Coyote Creek, one of dozens demolished…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":270659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,8,409,138,1493,1011,1336,181,23,100,2944,13,88,90,2295,89,198,200,2442],"class_list":{"0":"post-270658","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-bay-area","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-city-politics","12":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","13":"tag-homelessness","14":"tag-housing","15":"tag-housing-crisis","16":"tag-latest-headlines","17":"tag-local-news","18":"tag-news","19":"tag-photos-and-videos","20":"tag-politics","21":"tag-san-jose","22":"tag-san-jose-headlines","23":"tag-san-jose-mayor","24":"tag-san-jose-news","25":"tag-santa-clara-county","26":"tag-south-bay","27":"tag-south-bay-crime"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/270659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}