Overview
- President Trump announced plans to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison for the nation's most violent offenders, emphasizing its symbolic value for law and order.
- The Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security have been instructed to comply with the presidential order, though no timeline or funding details have been provided.
- Alcatraz, closed in 1963 due to high operational costs and deteriorating infrastructure, is now a major tourist attraction operated by the National Park Service.
- Critics, including California lawmakers, have raised concerns about the practicality and legality of the plan, citing the site's current use and significant logistical challenges.
- The prison's reopening aligns with Trump's broader agenda to overhaul incarceration and immigration detention policies, including controversial proposals for Guantanamo Bay and deportation practices.