President Trump: It’s easier to escape Alcatraz than reopen it as a prison | Opinion

President Donald Trump thinks he’s found the perfect place to send all those “vicious, violent and repeat criminal offenders” he says came into America illegally to create havoc in the nation: Alcatraz, the former maximum-security prison in the San Francisco Bay.

Better yet, restoring it to full prison mode would be a sharp poke in the eye of Trump’s nemesis, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco Democrat. That’s because Alcatraz is in her district.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office characterized Trump’s latest fever dream as a distraction to redirect attention from the tariff-stressed economy and battles against judges over his executive orders.

In a Truth Social posting online Sunday night, Trump wrote “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.

Opinion

“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. The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order and JUSTICE.”

Perhaps Trump queued up some Hollywood movies about Alcatraz that have been made over the years. There’s “The Rock,” made in 1996 and starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage. Or “Escape from Alcatraz” starring Clint Eastwood, the 1979 film that related the successful escape of three inmates in 1962. (Whether they survived the frigid bay waters remains a mystery.)

However he came to the concept, Trump’s idea will face some harsh realities, which is why Pelosi posted on X: “The President’s proposal is not a serious one.”

Alcatraz’s colorful past

Alcatraz has a sensational past that no doubt captures Trump’s fancy. Among the inmates housed there were gangster Al Capone and notorious criminal George “Machine Gun” Kelly.

First an Army prison that opened in 1912, the facility was transferred to the federal prison system in 1933. It had capacity for more than 300 prisoners, but typically housed 250 or so.

With strong currents in the San Francisco Bay and the threat of sharks attacking anyone who dared to swim the 1.5 miles to San Francisco, Alcatraz was considered escape-proof. It operated until 1963, when the Bureau of Prisons decided against spending any more funds to keep it viable. The facility was constructed with poor building methods, according to John Martini, an Alcatraz historian.

“It’s nowhere near what you’d consider to be modern standards for housing incarcerated people,” he told the Los Angeles Times, adding that reopening it as a prison would be challenging.

Besides the constant weather impacts of salty sea air and damp fog, an enlarged Alcatraz as promoted by Trump would also face environmental reviews, including the National Environmental Protection Act. Parts of the island are already closed during the year to protect migratory birds. Plus, the island has the status as a National Historic Landmark, which would complicate reopening it as a prison.

After closing as a penitentiary, Alcatraz reopened as a national park, and is among the most popular of Bay Area tourist attractions today.

Environmental challenges

Will Trump’s latest whimsy come to pass? It seems highly unlikely.

For one thing, construction will be extra expensive. Everything has to be shipped to the rock island. Trump’s dream to enlarge the prison will confront the fact that there is only so much room to build on. Environmental groups will likely challenge any plan, meaning the project will get delayed in court — probably beyond Trump’s term.

The Associated Press reports that a Bureau of Prisons representative said the agency “will comply with all Presidential Orders.” What else could the bureau say?

If the president is serious about locking up “the dregs of society,” he should ditch his Alcatraz fantasy and build a new prison at an existing facility — preferably on land.

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