President Donald Trump on May 4 announced he will “reopen and rebuild” the historic Alcatraz prison off the San Francisco coast to jail the nation’s most ruthless and violent repeat offenders.
In a Truth Social post on the evening of May 4, Trump revealed that he has ordered the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Homeland Security to reopen the former federal prison located on a small island in California’s Bay Area.
The announcement is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to crack down on criminal activity and keep America safe. Trump has already deported hundreds of accused gang members and illegal immigrants to Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT), the maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
“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 wrote. “The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.”
The island facility has now been closed for more than 60 years.
The former military prison was known to be impossible to escape from due to the strong currents and cold waters of the Pacific Ocean. Throughout its history, 36 men tried to escape on 14 separate occasions, according to the FBI. But most of those inmates were eventually captured or didn’t survive the attempt.
A 1979 movie called “Escape from Alcatraz” featured a story about three inmates who tried to escape the notorious island facility. Alcatraz has infamously jailed well-known criminals such as gangster Al Capone, George “Machine Gun” Kelly, Alvin Karpis, and Arthur Barker, according to the Bureau of Prisons website.
The Epoch Times’ sister media outlet NTD contacted the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom for comment on Trump’s order to reopen the prison but did not receive an immediate response.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has publicly dismissed Trump’s directive.
Alcatraz, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark, opened to the public in 1973 and since then has served as a tourist site operated by the National Park Service. Tourists can pay to ride a ferry to the island and take a tour of the former federal prison. More than one million visitors from around the world visit the island each year, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that it “will comply with all Presidential Orders.”
Trump was pressed by the media on the proposal to reopen the facility.
“It’s long been a symbol, Alcatraz. It’s a sad symbol but it’s a symbol of law and order,” he said.
