In a post on his Truth Social site, Mr. Trump wrote that, “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. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
Mr. Trump said he is directing the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Homeland Security to “reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
“The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order and JUSTICE,” he added.
A general view of Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay, on August 16, 2024./ Getty Images
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons told The Associated Press in a statement that the agency “will comply with all Presidential Orders.” The spokesperson did not immediately answer the AP’s questions regarding the practicality and feasibility of reopening Alcatraz or the agency’s role in the future of the former prison given the National Park Service’s control of the island.
Mr. Trump’s social media post comes as he has been clashing with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador, without due process. Mr. Trump has also talked about wanting to send American citizens there and to other foreign prisons.
Mr. Trump, returning to the White House on Sunday night, told reporters he came up with the idea because of frustrations with “radicalized judges” who have insisted those being deported receive due process.
“It’s an idea I had I guess because the judges, so many of these radicalized judges they want to have trials for every single person. Think of it. Every single person that is in our country illegally,” he said.
He called Alcatraz “a bad symbol, but it’s a symbol of law and order.”
Why was Alcatraz closed?
Alcatraz prison, located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, just over a mile north of the city, was a maximum-security, minimum-privilege prison opened in 1934 to deal with the “most incorrigible inmates in federal prisons,” the Bureau of Prisons says. Before that, dating back to the 1850s, the site was used by the U.S. Army as a defensive citadel and to hold military prisoners.
It was also designed to “show the law-abiding public that the Federal Government was serious about stopping the rampant crime of the 1920s and 1930s,” the bureau says on its website.
File photo of Cell Block ‘A’ in Alcatraz prison. Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Well-known criminals such as Al Capone, George “Machine-Gun” Kelly, Alvin Karpis (the first “Public Enemy No. 1”) and Arthur “Doc” Barker did time in Alcatraz, according to the BOP. However, most of the prisoners were not infamous gangsters but prisoners who refused to conform to the rules and regulations of other federal institutions.
Alcatraz had a capacity of 336 prisoners, though the average population was only about 260 to 275 at any given time.
Over the 29 years that it operated as a prison, 36 men were involved in 14 separate escape attempts. Of these, 23 were caught, six were shot and killed, and two drowned.
It closed on March 21, 1963, because the prison was too expensive to continue to operate, the BOP said. Because of its location on an island, all of its supplies — food, fuel, even fresh water — had to be brought in by boat.
The government determined at the time that it cost three times more per prisoner to operate Alcatraz than any other federal prison, and that would be more economical to shut it down and build a whole new facility, the bureau said.
After it closed, it was basically abandoned for years. In 1969, a group of Native American Indian activists occupied Alcatraz for 18 months, claiming it as Indian land.
Can people visit Alcatraz?
After its closure, the prison was often portrayed as “America’s Devil’s Island” in books and movies, including “The Rock” starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage and the 1979 film “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood.
In 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the island where Alcatraz sits on was included as part of a new National Park Service site. The island opened to tourists in the fall of 1973 and has become one of the most popular National Park Service sites.
Alcatraz Island continues to operate as a tourist site to this day.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat whose district includes the island, questioned the feasibility of reopening the prison after so many years.
“It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction. The President’s proposal is not a serious one,” she wrote on X.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
