Two federal officials toured the infamous Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to reopen the infamous island prison early Thursday morning. Critics say it will be more expensive than building a new prison.
Our atty. General Pam Bondy and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgham said Rush of tourists had visited Alcatraz before they now enter the Shutter Island prison, and officials have planned to make an official announcement that the two will air on Fox News.
But critics of the Trump administration have called the effort stunts and distractions, with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi mentioning the push to resume visits and prisons as “the Trump administration’s stupidest initiative.” Pelosi’s district includes the island and adjacent San Francisco.
“Don’t make a mistake. This stupidity is a misappropriation tactic to distract attention from the administration’s most cruel behavior. It tears health care to take food from children and give billionaires tax credit,” Pelosi said in a statement, referring to the recently passed “Big Beautiful Building.” “The administration has yet to see if it could afford to spend billions to convert and maintain Alcatraz as a prison when it has already added trillions of dollars to its citizen debt.”
President Trump pushed prison reopening for months, saying in a social media post that doing so would become a “symbol of law, order and justice.”
According to the Post, Trump said the structure would house the country’s “most ruthless and violent” criminals.
A popular tourist attraction, Alcatraz was closed as a prison in 1963 after federal officials said it was too expensive to run.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
A Justice Department spokesperson said Bondi and Burgham will be getting a briefing for the facility as part of their visit and will meet with National Park Police and other officials on the plans needed to restore the facility as a prison again and reopen it.
Today, the former prison serves as a popular tourist attraction for visitors to San Francisco.
The prison, originally opened in 1934, closed prisoners in 1963 after federal officials deemed it too expensive to operate.
The prisons cost about three times more than any other prison in the country, as they are primarily on a 22-acre island, according to the Prison Bureau.
The need to send supplies such as food and freshwater for guards, operators and prisoners means it’s cheaper to open new facilities than to run Alcatraz.
For more than 50 years now, the prison has served as a museum under the control of the National Park Service.
For Alcatraz to re-act as a prison, Congress must pass laws to remove the requirements of the Regional National Environmental Policy Act and Historical Preservation Act.
If reopened, the facility will need to be transferred to the Prison Bureau for operation.
Local officials and Democrats have expressed strong opposition to reopening the facility as a prison.
In a social media post Thursday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Luley criticized the Trump administration’s efforts.
“There is no realistic plan for Alcatraz to host people other than visitors,” he said in X.
Pelosi said in her statement that efforts to reopen Alcatraz would face severe opposition in Congress.
“If the reason can’t win and Republicans should bring this absurdity before Congress, Democrats will use all the available Congress and budget tactics to stop the insanity,” Pelosi said in a statement.
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