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US President Donald Trump has announced a controversial plan to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the former maximum-security prison located on an island in San Francisco Bay, branding it a new home for the country’s “most ruthless and violent offenders”.
In a statement posted to his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump said: “For too long America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat criminal offenders.” He described the move to reopen Alcatraz as a powerful message of “law, order, and justice”, stating he had directed the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, FBI and Homeland Security to rebuild and expand the facility.
Trump said, “Today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ.” He added the facility would serve as a “symbol of law, order, and justice” and would be used to house “America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.”
The prison, once home to infamous criminals like Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, has not housed inmates since it was shuttered in 1963 due to high maintenance costs. Today, it is a major tourist attraction.
Legal experts and political opponents have criticised the proposal as impractical. Professor Gabriel Jack Chin of the UC Davis School of Law told the BBC that the federal prison population has dropped significantly, and there are already “a lot of empty beds” in existing facilities. He added, “It’s not clear if a new one is needed.”
Democrats responded swiftly. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose district includes Alcatraz, dismissed the move as “not a serious one”, while San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener called the idea “deeply unhinged” and “an attack on the rule of law”.
Trump’s latest proposal comes amid criticism of his attempts to export US prisoners abroad. In March, he controversially sent over 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador, and has suggested he would consider sending American criminals to foreign jails as well.
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