Donald Trump has directed his administration to reopen and expand Alcatraz Prison, the infamous former maximum-security facility on an island near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.
According to Trump, the reopening of Alcatraz would serve as a “symbol of law, order, and justice” to tackle vicious, violent, and repeat offenders.
Trump announced his plans on Truth Social, stating that “for too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders”. He directed the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt Alcatraz to house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.
Alcatraz was originally a naval defense fort and was rebuilt as a military prison in the early 20th century. It took in federal convicts in the 1930s and was home to notorious gangsters like Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly. The prison was closed in 1963 due to high operating costs, nearly three times more than other federal prisons, mainly because of its island location.
Reopening Alcatraz would require significant investment, and experts question the need for a new prison when there are already empty beds in the federal system. Professor Gabriel Jack Chin from the University of California’s Davis School of Law notes that it would take an “enormous amount of money to make Alcatraz functional. The federal prison system is currently down about 25% from its peak population, making the need for a new prison questionable.
Leading Democrats have dismissed the proposal, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling it not a serious one and California State Senator Scott Wiener labeling it deeply unhinged and an attack on the rule of law
