Trump Seeks USD152M to Restore Alcatraz Prison
Included in a Friday budget submission to Congress for fiscal year 2027, the Trump administration proposed to "rebuild Alcatraz as a state-of-the-art secure prison facility," requesting "$152 million to cover the first year of project costs."
The push to revive the notorious island prison — shuttered in 1963 after nearly three decades of operation — marks the formal legislative step following President Donald Trump's initial announcement last May on Truth Social. "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," Trump wrote at the time.
He continued: "That is why, 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."
Months after that announcement, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi conducted an on-site inspection of the island. Bondi suggested the "terrific facility" could "hold illegal aliens."
Originally constructed as a military fortress on its eponymous island in San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz housed some of America's most dangerous criminals from 1934 to 1963 — among them mobster Al Capone and George 'Machine Gun' Kelly. Its closure was attributed to prohibitively high operational costs. No escape from the facility was ever officially confirmed as successful. Today, it operates as a major tourist destination managed by the National Park Service.
The funding request drew immediate backlash from senior Democratic figures. Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi wrote on X that the "proposal is absurd on its face and should be rejected outright," adding: "I will work with my colleagues in the Congress to use every parliamentary and budgetary tactic available to block this lunacy."
Democratic Senator Scott Wiener, who represents San Francisco, echoed that opposition, accusing Trump of seeking to destroy a "top tourist attraction to turn it back into a failed exorbitantly expensive prison."
The administration has not yet outlined a timeline for construction or a projected total cost beyond the initial year's allocation.
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