The American president wrote that he wants “…a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders…” adding that “…The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE.” 

This announcement comes as Trump faces legal challenges for trying to send accused gang members to a prison in El Salvador without a fair process. 

California State Senator, Scott Wiener, has already responded, calling the proposal absurd, especially because Alcatraz generates tourists, revenue, and supports jobs. Alcatraz is also going under a major renovation to ensure visitors are safe. 

This island operated as a high-security federal prison from 1934 to 1963. It closed because of high operating costs and deteriorating conditions. Today, it’s a museum and one of the most popular tourist attractions in San Francisco. 

In the 1930s, at the height of America’s crime wave, the government wanted to send a strong message to the public that they were taking tough measures. Therefore, in 1933, they ordered the military base to be reopened as a maximum-security, minimum-privilege, inescapable facility that would eventually house the most violent criminals in the world, such as Robert Stroud (“Birdman”), Al Capone, and George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

The prisoners at Alcatraz were only given four rights: the right to food, clothing, shelter, and medical care. Thus, they were not allowed to talk. 

Because of how secure the prison needed to be, there was a maximum of 200 prisoners at a time, and every one of them was counted up to thirteen times a day. Despite all the precautions that had been taken over its 29 years of operation, 36 men still tried to escape: twenty-three were caught, six were shot and killed, two drowned, and five were simply listed as missing and presumed to have drowned.