Trump orders restoration of Alcatraz prison to lock up 'dregs of society'

President Donald Trump wants to restore an iconic maximum-security prison for his proposed golden age — an institution in the San Francisco Bay he regards as a "symbol of law and order."

Trump announced Sunday evening that he would direct the Bureau of Prisons, along with the FBI and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, to "reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America's most ruthless and violent Offenders."

"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 wrote on Truth Social. "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. 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," added the president.

Although first the home of an Army fort — boasting 11 cannons in 1854 and 100 more by the following decade — Alcatraz Island was recognized early on as an ideal place to lock up unsavory characters. It was surrounded by cold water and swift currents and out of earshot of polite society.

Alcatraz's days as a prison island effectively began in December 1859 with the arrival of the first permanent garrison. The National Park Service indicated that 11 soldiers were initially imprisoned in the basement of the fortified gateway blocking the entrance road. This basement and other structures were soon filled to capacity, warranting the construction of additional prison facilities.

In the decades following the 22-acre island's 1861 designation as the military prison for the U.S. Army's Department of the Pacific, Alcatraz's central purpose ceased to be defending America against foreign hostiles and instead became locking up its native threats.

'We will no longer be held hostage to criminals, thugs, and Judges that are afraid to do their job.'

Alcatraz was transferred from the military to the Bureau of Prisons in the early 1930s. Over the next three decades, it saw numerous big-name felons idle in its dark cells, including Al Capone, George "Machine Gun Kelly" Barnes, Robert Stroud, and the first "Public Enemy #1," Alvin Karpis.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Alcatraz never reached its capacity of 336 inmates.

On account of its relatively high operating costs — the daily per capita cost of the prison in 1959 was $10.10, compared with $3.00 at United States Penitentiary Atlanta — and in the wake of numerous high-profile escapes and escape attempts, USP Alcatraz was closed on March 21, 1963.

In 1973, the island was opened to the public and has been a tourist trap since, welcoming over 1.5 million visitors a year.

"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," wrote Trump. "The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE."

A Bureau of Prisons spokesman said in a statement to the Associated Press that the agency will "comply with all presidential orders."

Trump has been trying in recent months to offshore criminals, both foreign and domestic.

In addition to sending suspected terrorists to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center, the Trump administration has sent suspected Tren de Aragua terrorists to Guantanamo Bay.

Shortly after taking office, the president directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to accommodate roughly 30,000 inmates "for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs identified by the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security."

Federal judges have so far hindered these efforts, ruling that the administration must grant deportees due process. Restoring the prison on Alcatraz might be one way to get criminal noncitizens offshore without having to deal with activist district court judges.

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