President Trump is proposing an expanded Alcatraz facility for those he calls the “dregs of society.”
President Donald Trump has announced plans to reinstate Alcatraz Island as a high-security federal prison.
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump stated that the US needs a place for the “dregs of society,” citing ongoing legal challenges to his deportation policies.
Alcatraz, originally built as a military fort near San Francisco, functioned as a prison for almost three decades before closing over 60 years ago and becoming a tourist attraction.
Trump said he has directed the Justice Department “to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
“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,” Trump declared, calling the planned conversion a “symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
Trump, who campaigned on a promise to deport undocumented immigrants, has faced court challenges that argue his administration’s methods violate due process rights.
Alcatraz, located about 2km off the California coast and known as “the Rock,” is famous for being supposedly inescapable. Of the 36 inmates who tried to escape, none are confirmed to have succeeded, although five are still listed as “missing and presumed drowned.”
The structure on the island was first built in the 1850s as a military base to protect San Francisco Bay. The Department of Justice took over in 1933, using it as a prison until 1963. The historically significant landmark, seen as a symbol of the government’s fight against widespread crime in the early 20th century, was eventually considered too expensive to maintain compared to other similar prisons.
Today, Alcatraz is a National Historic Landmark that attracts over a million visitors each year, managed by the National Park Service. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose district includes the island, dismissed Trump’s announcement as “not a serious one.”
Later that day, the president told reporters that reopening the prison was “just an idea I’ve had.”
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