Donald Trump is demanding $152 million to turn the infamous Alcatraz back into a ‘state of the art’ maximum security jail over 60 years after it released its final prisoners
Donald Trump wants US taxpayers to pay $152 million to turn the popular tourist attraction Alcatraz back into a maximum-security prison.
The infamous maximum security island jail has not housed prisoners since the early 1960s, and now attracts over 1.2million visitors each year – but Trump is asking for £115million to return its to rebuild it as a “state of the art” detention facility. The request, which emerged in yesterday’s US budget proposals for the forthcoming year, forms part of an eye-watering $1.7 billion (£1.2billion) requested for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Plans for Alcatraz would include converting the site to “house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders“, though few other details have been provided.
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When the prison closed in 1962, officials said maintaining the facility would cost between $3million (£2.2m) and $5million (£3.75m) per year, without including daily operating costs. Much of the island housing Alcatraz, known as “The Rock,” is covered in bird faeces, and all resources needed to rebuild and operate the facility would need to be taken by boat.
“As an agency, we are moving forward, evaluating, and formulating the actions necessary to reopen and operate USP Alcatraz,” the US Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement. When Trump first announced his intentions to return Alcatraz to its former use in 2025, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi branded the idea of opening Alcatraz the “stupidest initiative yet.”
“Rebuilding Alcatraz into a modern prison is a stupid notion that would be nothing more than a waste of taxpayer dollars and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” she said in a statement, saying she would oppose the plan. The former speaker slammed the budget proposal from the Trump administration as “absurd on its face and should be rejected outright”.
Trump has previously said he wishes to see the 116-year-old Alcatraz building “substantially enlarged” and transformed into a “secure prison”. He mentioned that the waters surrounding it are “surrounded by sharks” – though marine biologists have pointed out that the species present there, such as small leopard sharks, are generally non-threatening and would not pose a real obstacle to escape.
Previously, Trump’s plan was criticised as it was pointed out that the island has no running water or sewage system in place, with all supplies needed for the prison required to be brought in by boat. By the time Alcatraz closed, it was three times more expensive to operate than any other federal prison, according to the US Bureau of Prisons.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie has also dismissed the proposal to reopen Alcatraz as a federal prison, calling it “not a serious proposal” in July 2025 and reiterating his comments in recent days. “There’s no realistic plan to make Alcatraz reopen as anything other than the wonderful tourist attraction that it currently is,” the mayor said.
Congress would need to approve the plan, with battles expected across the political aisle over the size and detail of the wider $1.7 billion prison budget.
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