Alcatraz, a former federal prison that is now a national park, will “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz,” according to a statement made by President Donald Trump on Sunday.
“REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering,” Trump stated on Truth Social.
“I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he continued.
Over the course of 29 years, more than 1,500 individuals “deemed difficult to incarcerate elsewhere in the federal prison system” were incarcerated at Alcatraz Island, a former military fortress and jail in San Francisco Bay, which was converted into a federal penitentiary in 1934, according to the National Park Service.
A National Park Service report claims that because of its modest size, remote location, and scarcity of fresh water, it was first judged unable to function as a government institution.
The Bureau of Prisons’ director in 1933, Sanford Bates, later deemed it “an ideal place of confinement for about 200 of the most desperate or irredeemable types.” The following year, it was officially established as a federal prison.
In his post, Trump expressed his desire to return the facility to its original use.
In his justification for restoring the jail on Sunday night, Trump criticized the court decisions and called Alcatraz a well-known “symbol of law and order.”
Trump told reporters at the White House on Sunday night, “The judges, so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single, think of it, every single person that’s in our country illegally. That would mean millions of trials, and it’s just so ridiculous what’s happening.”
Trump also declared in March that he would try to hold individuals he wants to deport in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but the administration has since changed its mind due to legal and financial concerns.
The Bureau of Prisons oversees 156,254 inmates and runs at least 120 federal facilities.
Given persistent budgetary restrictions, the move’s viability is uncertain. In December, the Bureau of Prisons informed a union representing some of its employees that it intended to close multiple institutions.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, Alcatraz closed as a prison in 1963 due to high running costs that were made worse by the island’s physical isolation, which required that all supplies and food be transported by boat.
About the closure of the penitentiary, the Bureau of Prisons noted, “An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs — Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison.”
Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreational Area, which included Alcatraz Island, almost ten years later in 1972. A year later, the complex opened to the public, and the National Park Service claims that it is now one of the most visited locations, with over a million tourists each year.
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Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., whose district contains the island, stated on X that Trump’s idea “is not a serious one,” adding that it is currently “a major tourist attraction.”
Additionally, a representative for California Governor Gavin Newsom dismissed the idea’s credibility.
“Looks like it’s distraction day again in Washington, D.C.,”Diana Crofts-Pelayo, deputy director of communication under Newsom, said.
