The brand new director of the federal Bureau of Prisons mentioned the company will “vigorously” pursue “all avenues to assist and implement” the president’s agenda after President Donald Trump mentioned he was needed to reopen Alcatraz as a “considerably enlarged and rebuilt” jail.
Over the weekend, Trump posted on Fact Social that he was directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Division of Justice, FBI and DHS to reopen the power.
“The Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will vigorously pursue all avenues to assist and implement the President’s agenda,” mentioned BOP Director William Ok. Marshall III, who was sworn in final month. “I’ve ordered a right away evaluation to find out our wants and the subsequent steps. USP Alcatraz has a wealthy historical past. We look ahead to restoring this highly effective image of legislation, order, and justice. We can be actively working with our legislation enforcement and different federal companions to reinstate this crucial mission.
“Simply an thought I had,” Trump instructed reporters Sunday evening when requested what prompted his proposal. “And I suppose as a result of so many of those radicalized judges, they need to have trials for each single, consider it, each single person who’s in our nation illegally, they got here in illegally. That might imply hundreds of thousands of trials, and it is simply so ridiculous what’s taking place.”
Alcatraz, which sits in the course of San Francisco Bay, has not been an operational jail since 1963, in response to the Nationwide Park Service, which has maintained it as a part of the Golden Gate Nationwide Recreation Space since 1972. Greater than 1 million folks go to the island every year, in response to the BOP.
Alcatraz Island is pictured Could 4, 2025, within the San Francisco Bay, Calif.
Noah Berger/AP
The ability, which was constructed as a fort to guard San Francisco Bay then transformed to an Military jail earlier than holding federal inmates, has housed infamous prisoners equivalent to mobster Al Capone. Often called “The Rock,” the jail held on common 260 to 275 folks, in response to the Bureau of Prisons, and lots of inmates thought-about the residing circumstances on the jail to be higher than most on the time, the company says.
It was estimated that it will take $3 million to $5 million for restoration and upkeep work to maintain the jail open along with day by day working prices, which have been far larger than different federal prisons. Alcatraz’s day by day per capita price in 1959 was $10.10 in comparison with $3.00 for the federal jail in Atlanta.
A latest inspector normal report estimated that the Bureau of Prisons amenities throughout the nation wanted $2 billion price of repairs. The BOP has needed to shut amenities due to the dire circumstances inside some prisons.
Elizabeth Neumann, a former DHS deputy chief of workers, instructed ABC Information Stay that the BOP “already has some fairly vital issues with its present prisons.”
“They’ve closed a quantity lately simply because they cannot preserve them. So to attempt to additionally flip round one thing that hasn’t been operational for 60 years, and make it liveable for folks to be imprisoned could be some huge cash,” she mentioned.
And it is not simply the price of getting the power prepared to deal with inmates, she mentioned.
“San Francisco is a really excessive price of residing space. Federal workers receives a commission extra in the event that they work in these excessive price areas. So it is probably not a value efficient resolution,” Neumann mentioned. “In the event you’re seeking to construct producer capability, you wouldn’t it’s more practical to only construct one thing new in part of the nation the place the price of residing is decrease.”
Neumann mentioned she wasn’t shocked by Trump’s suggestion. She mentioned throughout his first administration, she was typically tasked with researching a few of his proposals.
“He has loads of concepts. Individuals will go off and examine them, then they will come again with the info and, and normally it will get dropped at that stage,” she mentioned.
Home Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who represents the realm in Congress, shot down Trump’s proposal.
“Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary greater than sixty years in the past. It’s now a extremely popular nationwide park and main vacationer attraction. The President’s proposal just isn’t a severe one,” she posted on X.
