President Trump announced Sunday that he's moving to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the former prison on an island in California's San Francisco Bay that shut its doors in 1963 and is currently a popular tourist destination. In a post on Truth Social, Trump directed federal agencies—including the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department, the FBI, and Homeland Security—to work on reopening and rebuilding the facility as a place for what he described as the country's "most ruthless and violent" offenders, the AP reports. Trump argued the move would restore "Law, Order, and JUSTICE" and serve as a national symbol:
- "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," he wrote on Truth Social. "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."
Alcatraz, once home to infamous inmates such as Al Capone and James "Whitey" Bulger, is now managed as part of the National Park Service, and it's not clear how exactly Trump's directive would be carried out. The prison was closed due to how much more expensive it was to run than mainland prisons, Fox News reports. Trump's order comes amid legal disputes over the president's efforts to send accused gang members—and, reportedly, some US citizens—to a prison in El Salvador, bypassing standard legal processes. There's no word yet from federal officials or California authorities on whether Trump's directive will result in actual changes. (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
