Alcatraz prison to be reopened by Trump’s order  

US President Donald Trump announced Sunday evening that he had ordered his administration to renovate and reopen the notorious Alcatraz prison in San Francisco, which closed more than 60 years ago, to house the most dangerous and violent criminals.

“For too long, America has been the victim of brutal, violent criminals and repeat offenders… They are the dregs of society, and they will bring nothing but misery and suffering,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.

“That’s why today I’m directing the Bureau of Corrections, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of the Interior to reopen, significantly expand, and rebuild Alcatraz to incarcerate America’s most dangerous and violent criminals,” he added.

Trump believes that reopening the facility, which closed in March 1963, will be a symbol of law, order, and justice.

With this announcement, the President took a new step in the fight against crime, a key issue of his second presidential term.

The facility that incarcerated top Mafia leaders, including al Capone, has closed just 29 years after its opening due to high operating costs, according to the US Department of Corrections.

In 1962, the maximum-security prison gained widespread notoriety after three inmates escaped, including Frank Morris, who inspired the 1963 book “Escape from Alcatraz” by Jay Campbell Bruce and the 1979 film of the same name by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood.

Currently, the Bureau of Corrections reports that the cost of operating Alcatraz was approximately three times higher than that of any other federal prison.

The geographical isolation of this prison, located on a small rocky island, resulted in high costs for transporting food by boat and 3.8 million liters of drinking water per week, especially since the island had no source of fresh water.

According to the same source, it’s estimated that between $3 and $5 million were spent on maintenance work to keep the facility open.

During its 29 years of operation, the average inmate population at Alcatraz was between 260 and 275, according to the Bureau of Prisons, less than 1% of the total federal prison population.

The federal agency states, “At Alcatraz, prisoners had four rights: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care… The remaining rights were privileges that had to be earned… These privileges included work, correspondence, family visits, access to the prison library, and recreational activities such as painting and music”.

The former prison is located two kilometers from the coast and is now a tourist attraction in San Francisco Bay, California.

Alcatraz became a national park in 1972, attracting many visitors due to its exceptional location and its past as a federal prison.

The island attracts more than one million visitors from all over the world.