Trump Orders Feds to Reopen 'Substantially Enlarged and Rebuilt' Alcatraz

President Donald Trump said Sunday that he has ordered federal law enforcement agencies to reopen and rebuild San Francisco's Alcatraz as a prison to house violent offenders.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the reopening of Alcatraz — which shuttered on March 21, 1963, having been deemed too expensive to maintain and operate — would "serve as a symbol of law, order and justice." He directed the Bureau of Prisons, Justice Department, FBI and Department of Homeland Security to work together to reopen the infamous penitentiary on the island.

"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, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders," Trump wrote. "We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job and allow us to remove criminals, who came into our Country illegally.

According to a history produced by the federal Bureau of Prisons, Alcatraz was almost three times more expensive to run than other federal prison, largely because all supplies — even fresh water — had to be brought in by boat. San Francisco's northern shore is just over a mile away. About $3 to $5 million for restoration and maintenance work would also have been needed in the 1960s to keep the prison open, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

It was not immediately clear how much money would be required to reopen the prison, but the amount would undoubtedly be enormous.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said in a statement Sunday that President Trump's proposal to reopen the site as a prison "is not a serious one."

"Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago," she said. "It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction."

Alcatraz operated as a prison for 29 years and housed well-known prisoners considered violent or escape risks, such as Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Arthur "Doc" Barker.

The prison was most known for the 1962 escape of three inmates — Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin — who used a vent shaft to reach the roof and launch a raft into the bay. They were never found.

Since 1973, Alcatraz has been open to the public. It is managed by the National Park Service and has become "one of the most popular park service sites," according to the federal government. Approximately 1.2 million people visit each year to tour the cells and island grounds, according to the park service. The island is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

In 1969, after the prison was closed but before Alcatraz was opened to the public, a group of Native Americans began an occupation of the island that ultimately lasted 19 months — an effort to draw awareness to the original indigenous ownership of the land, and to the challenges facing Native Americans.

There is no executive order on Alcatraz currently on the White House website.

John Martini, a local historian, told the Chronicle Sunday that reopening Alcatraz would not be possible because the building is "totally inoperable." There is no water, no sewage and only some parts of the building have electricity, he said. Some of the buildings on the island were built over 100 years ago, he noted.

"It was falling apart and needed huge amounts of reconstruction, and that would have only brought it up to 1963 code," Martini said. "It was always an extremely expensive place to run."

"If the discussion is to rebuild the prison building to hold people, I don't think that would be feasible. It would have to be torn down and rebuilt," Martini said.

In his Truth Social post calling for the reopening of the island prison, 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. No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets."

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D- San Francisco, described the prospect of reopening Alatraz as "absurd on its face" in a statement Sunday. Wiener noted it is a "museum" that "generates significant revenue for the federal government and supports many jobs."

He said that the effort was part of the president's "ongoing crusade to sabotage the rule of law." He added: "If Trump is serious about doing this, it's just one more step in his dismantling of democracy — a domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay."

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