President Donald Trump has ignited a wave of backlash from California Democrats after revealing a bold plan to reopen and expand the infamous Alcatraz prison, causing an uproar among liberals.
On Sunday evening, Trump took to Truth Social to unveil his initiative to bring Alcatraz back to its former state, 62 years after its closure due to high operational costs.
‘It was just an idea I had,’ Trump shared confidently later that day, criticizing ‘radicalized judges’ for prompting him to think creatively after his repeated attempts to deport illegal migrants were obstructed.
But the plan has been skewered by critics, including Governor Gavin Newsom’s director of communications Izzy Gardon, who according to the New York Times ‘laughed when asked about the order.’
‘Looks like it’s Distraction Day again in Washington, D.C.,’ he said dismissively.
A second spokesperson in Newsom’s office told the LA Times: ‘Trump is pledging to reopen Alcatraz as American consumers feel the financial pinch of his unpopular tariffs and he continues to tussle with the courts over mass deportations of immigrants.’
California State Senator Scott Wiener led criticism from within the state, warning constituents ‘he wants to turn Alcatraz into a domestic gulag right in the middle of San Francisco Bay.’
Wiener said even if he were to put aside the fact that Alcatraz is now a museum and one of the state’s premier tourist attractions, Trump’s proposal is ‘both nuts and terrifying.
‘He specifically calls out judges who won’t let him deport whomever he wants without due process. In addition to being deeply unhinged, this is an attack on the rule of law.’
Alcatraz brings in upwards of 1.5 million tourists and generates an estimated $60 million in revenue annually.
The former maximum security federal prison off the coast of San Francisco was closed in 1963 after 29 years of operation. One of the leading factors in the decision to shutter it for good was the cost of restoration and maintenance.
The Bureau of Prisons at the time said it would have cost an estimated $3 million to $5 million simply to keep the doors open.
‘That figure did not include daily operating costs – Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,’ a spokesperson said at the time.
Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday: ‘Alcatraz closed as a federal penitentiary more than sixty years ago. It is now a very popular national park and major tourist attraction.
‘The President’s proposal is not a serious one.’
The main expense was due to the fact that Alcatraz was an island and all of the goods had to be shipped in.
‘The island had no source of fresh water, so nearly one million gallons of water had to be barged to the island each week,’ the Bureau of Prisons spokesperson said.
‘The Federal Government found that it was more cost-effective to build a new institution than to keep Alcatraz open.’
Beyond that, the facilities are severely lacking when compared to similar maximum security prisons across mainland America.
At the time of the decision to shutter Alcatraz more than 60 years ago, the facilities had already fallen into a state of disrepair and required extensive renovations to keep up with the times.
Alcatraz has the space to hold 336 inmates, but historically the most prisoners ever jailed there at any given point was 275.
Comparatively, modern day maximum security prisons across America typically hold between 1,000 and 2,500 inmates.
Columnist Michael Cohen argued ‘there’s pretty much zero chance he’s heard of Supermax prisons, prompting lawyer George Conway to add: ‘Or knows that Alcatraz is a tiny little rock that can only fit a couple hundred people.’
But Trump maintains the notorious facility, which once held famed gangster Al Capone, will once again ‘house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.’
Clarifying his position later on Sunday, Trump confirmed that his decision was made, at least in part, in response to ‘radicalized judges’ who are trying to limit his power to deport illegal immigrants.
‘So many of these radicalized judges they want to have trials for every single person in our country illegally,’ he said.
‘That would mean millions of trials and it’s just so ridiculous what’s happening.’
Trump has repeatedly clashed with the courts as he tries to send accused gang members and illegal migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
The maximum security prison, which was shut down in 1963, will provide Trump a workaround to those court orders barring him from carrying out the mass deportation scheme.
‘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,’ he wrote in his initial post.
He later said: ‘It’s long been a symbol, Alcatraz, of whatever it is. It’s a bad symbol, but it’s a symbol of law and order.
‘It’s got quite a history, frankly, so I think we’re going to do that. We’re looking at it right now.’
The prison was catapulted to fame in the 1996 movie The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage.
One X user trolled Trump after the announcement, writing: ‘You know that Trump watched ‘Escape From Alcatraz’ or some similar film today and had a eureka moment.
Another wrote: ‘I’m telling you The Rock (with Sean Connery) was on Fx last night.’
In Alcatraz, prisoners were afforded just four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care.
According to the Bureau of Prisons webpage, ‘everything else was a privilege that had to be earned.
‘Some privileges a prisoner could earn included: working, corresponding with and having visits from family members, access to the prison library, and recreational activities such as painting and music.
‘Once prison officials felt a man no longer posed a threat and could follow the rules (usually after an average of five years on Alcatraz), he could then be transferred back to another Federal prison to finish his sentence and be released.’
Trump directed the Bureau of Prisons to work alongside the Department of Justice, FBI and Homeland Security to ‘reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt’ Alcatraz.
Trump has also directed the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to hold up to 30,000 of what he has labeled the ‘worst criminal aliens.
Several judges have ruled he must grant deportees due process. Trump has also floated potentially sending American citizens there and to other foreign prisons, but a reinvigorated Alcatraz could also solve that problem should legal challenges arise.
‘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,’ he wrote.
‘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.’
Following the announcement of its closure, signed off by US Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Alcatraz’s population was slowly whittled down, with inmates redistributed to other federal prisons.
On Sunday, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said in a statement that the agency ‘will comply with all Presidential Orders.’
