President Trump’s Plan to Reopen Alcatraz
Much to our chagrin, we are increasingly desensitized regarding President Trump’s daily transgressions. He wants to annex Canada. Oh, that’s just Trump being Trump. He circulates an AI photo of himself as a pope. Strange, but typical Trump behavior. But his latest outburst clearly demonstrates the downward path of his mental acuity. I actually did a double-take when I read about this proposal.
The proposal in question is his plan to reopen Alcatraz Island as a maximum-security federal prison. Now, those of you who have been to Alcatraz in the past 25-30 years already are rolling your eyes. I will explain the many reasons why this is a crazy idea while also giving you a brief history of “The Rock” and what Trump has said about his proposed reopening plan.
Alcatraz History
Alcatraz island is 1.25 miles from the San Francisco coastline. It was purchased by the federal government in 1850, and construction was completed on the original Fort Alcatraz in 1858. By the end of the year, 200 soldiers were garrisoned on the island. Also, because of its remote destination, a military prison was added to the complex in 1859. When the Civil War began in 1961, additional cannons were installed as was a lighthouse. It also served AS a Union weapons arsenal to prevent firearms from falling into the hands of Confederate sympathizers.
Commencing in 1863, the U.S. military started to confine private citizens accused of treason at the facility in 1967, and the following year, Alcatraz was officially designated a long-term detention facility for military prisoners. In 1898, the prison population significantly increased due to the influx of war prisoners during the Spanish-American War. And after the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, civilian prisoners were transferred to the island for their safety.
Additional construction occurred at Alcatraz during the early part of the 20th Century, and in 1933, military prisoners were removed from the island. Responsibility for the prison was then transferred to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. Because of its isolated location, it was used to house the worst of the worst prisoners. During the course of its life as a federal prison, it housed nefarious characters such as Al Capone, George “Machine Gun Kelly, Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, and Mickey Cohen.
Most Alcatraz escapees either were caught or drowned, but in 1962, prisoner John Pauk Scott made it to the shore. However, he was so weary from his swim that police found him unconscious and in shock. The federal government closed the facility as a penitentiary in 1963. The following year, it was the site of a large Native American protest, and the youthful contingent occupied the island for almost two years. In 1972, the National Park Service purchased the island as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It began operating Alcatraz as a tourist site and museum, which continues through the present.
Trump’s Proposal
On Sunday, President Trump said he wanted federal law enforcement agencies to work on restoring Alcatraz to a functioning maximum-security prison. As he often repeats, because the United States has become such a dangerous place he wants “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.”
No plan of action or cost estimates were mentioned. He said he had instructed the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department, the Homeland Security Department, and the FBI to work on his idea. Trump went on to say that “Alcatraz would “serve as a symbol of law, order, and justice.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom, when told of the president’s proposal, simply laughed.
So Many Reasons Why it’s Dumb Idea
It’s hard to count all the reasons this is such a crazy, dumb idea. First of all, at the time of its closing as a federal prison in 1963, it cost the federal government three times as much to run and maintain the facility as any other prison in the country. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy ordered the facility closed due to an estimate by the Bureau of Prisons that stated that Alcatraz needed $3 million to $5 million in restoration and maintenance to remain open.
Even today, Alcatraz’s operating costs still remain one of the biggest challenges that the National Parks Service faces in its maintenance of the facility. And no one in the Trump administration has come forward to explain how they would pay for the reopening of the facility when his DOGE team has already planned to cut billions of dollars from the Justice Department budget.
Closing Thought
Maybe reopening Alcatraz as a federal prison is not the dumbest idea the president has ever proposed, although it ranks right up there. Perhaps I have just hit my “enough is enough” point. For not only are ideas like this dumb, but they prevent our federal government from executing the types of legislation that would help lower and middle-income Americans improve their lives. In short, it’s bad government.
