POLITICS NEWS – Trump says he will reopen Alcatraz, a prison that housed Al Capone

Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer

President Trump says he will order federal agencies to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz. The maximum security prison has been closed for over 60 years and is notorious for the harsh punishments. In a social media post on Truth Social, he said, “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 to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.  The former U.S. Penitentiary Alcatraz opened in 1934 and is widely regarded as The Rock. The building dominated the craggy landscape of Alcatraz Island and is 1.5 miles north of San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf. 

Alcatraz has housed dangerous criminals such as the infamous mobster Al Capone, under an incarceration strategy that sought to concentrate difficult prisoners in one facility, segregating them from less dangerous inmates in the prison system. Since Trump returned to the White House, he has unveiled a string of high-profile initiatives that he claims will protect Americans and crack down on unlawful immigration. This includes deporting immigrants and potentially U.S. citizens to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.