US officials visit Alcatraz amid Trump's plan to reopen island prison [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Fri 23 May 2025 19.04 EDT
Last modified on Fri 23 May 2025 19.51 EDT


Federal prison officials visited Alcatraz last week after Donald Trump’s announcement earlier this month of plans to rebuild and reopen the infamous island prison, which has been closed for over 60 years. David Smith, the superintendent of the Golden Gate national recreation area (GGNRA), told the San Francisco Chronicle that officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons are planning to return for further structural assessments.

“They have been out here. They’ll be coming out again to do assessments of the structure,” Smith told the news outlet. The island facility has been closed since 1963, when then attorney general Robert F Kennedy ordered its shutdown amid high operating costs, limited space and multiple escape attempts.

BOP director William Marshall told Fox News that engineering teams are already surveying the site. “We’ve got engineering teams out there now that are doing some assessments, and so I’m just really excited about the opportunity and possibilities,” he said. In recent months, the US government has moved to reopen at least five previously closed detention centers and prisons.

Although California lawmakers have dismissed the Alcatraz proposal as a “distraction” and not a serious plan, the Trump administration is actively working – with the help of private prison companies – to reopen other facilities, some of which are already back in operation.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/23/trump-alcatraz-prison