The trump administration is moving forward with plans to try and reopen Alcatraz to prisoners.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, who oversees the Bureau of Prisons, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, whose department controls the land, are expected to visit the current tourist site today, according to two administration officials familiar with the plans.
A senior Justice Department official said Bondi and Burgum are touring the prison and the surrounding island, discussing facilities with park police on the ground, and directing staff to collaborate on the necessary planning to rehabilitate and reopen the facility.
Reacting to local media reports, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a written statement.
“With stiff competition, the planned announcement to reopen Alcatraz as a federal penitentiary is the Trump Administration’s stupidest initiative yet,” she wrote. “It should concern us all that clearly the only intellectual resources the Administration has drawn upon for this foolish notion are decades-old fictional Hollywood movies.”
In May, Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that he would direct his administration to reopen “a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”
“The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” the president wrote.
Legally, the Trump administration can’t simply do this — at least not right away. Reopening the facility would not be up to the Bureau of Prisons under current legislation that places the island under the control of the Department of the Interior and designates it as part of a national park. A member of Congress would need to propose a bill to change that.
“Should reason not prevail and Republicans bring this absurdity before the Congress, Democrats will use every parliamentary and budgetary tactic available to stop the lunacy,” Pelosi said.
