Trump Wants $152 Million to Turn Alcatraz Back Into a Prison
The prison on Alcatraz Island, which is in San Francisco Bay, has not been used as a prison for more than 60 years. While Alcatraz looms large in American pop culture, the federal prison located on the island was only in operation for 29 years, before being closed due to its high maintenance cost.
Today, the former maximum-security prison is largely in ruins, it has no running water or sewage, supplies must be shipped in by boat, and half of the island is covered in bird droppings; it is also a major tourist attraction. And yet, despite all of these facts, President Donald Trump (R) is requesting $152 million from Congress to return Alcatraz to its former role and “house America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.”
The millions for Alcatraz is part of a larger White House budget proposal that asks for $5 billion for the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) to improve “crumbling detention facilities” across the country, The New York Times reported. Given its dilapidated condition, the full cost to restore and reopen Alcatraz would be far higher than $152 million, a funding amount that the proposal indicates would only cover the first year of costs.
This is not the first time that the second Trump administration has pushed for Alcatraz to reopen. In July of last year, then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with other officials, toured the island, calling it a “terrific facility” that could “hold anything.”
Source: The New York Times
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