BURSTInterior Secretary Doug Burgum and Attorney General Pam Bondi visited Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in California on Thursday, just two months after President Trump ordered the reopening of the historic prison near San Francisco.
Both Trump administration officials shared photos online from their visit to the offshore prison, which closed more than 60 years ago because of soaring costs.
“Spent the day on Alcatraz Island, a @NatlParkService site, to start the work to renovate and reopen the site to house the most dangerous criminals and illegals,” Burgum wrote on social platform X. “This administration is restoring safety, justice, and order to our streets. @Interior & @TheJusticeDept are following a directive by @POTUS to help lead that mission.”
“A great morning at Alcatraz with @SecretaryBurgum,” Bondi added in her own post. “Under President Trump, we are Making America Safe Again.”
Trump floated the idea of reopening the prison, which became particularly well known for its portrayal in Hollywood films and for holding notable figures including Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, in May.
“For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering," Trump posted to Truth Social at the time. "When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm."
The president continued, “That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets."
“That is why, today, 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,” he added.
Reopening the prison, however, will not be an easy feat. The island is now part of a national park, under the control of the Interior Department, and transferring control would require legislative action.
The Bureau of Prisons notes on its website that soaring costs led the prison to close in 1963.
“An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs — Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,” according to the bureau.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who represents the San Francisco area, ripped the administration’s plan to reopen the prison, calling it Trump's “stupidest initiative yet.”
"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," Pelosi wrote in a statement Wednesday.
“Make no mistake: this stupidity is a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from this Administration’s cruelest actions yet in their Big, Ugly Law, which takes away food from children and rips health care from millions to give tax breaks to billionaires,” the California Democrat continued.
“It remains to be seen how this Administration could possibly afford to spend billions to convert and maintain Alcatraz as a prison when they are already adding trillions of dollars to the national debt with their sinful law,” she added.
The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.