Former President Donald Trump announced his intention to reopen and expand Alcatraz, the notorious former prison located on an island near San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday, Trump stated that "America has suffered for too long from the actions of violent and repeat offenders."
He described the reopening of Alcatraz, once known as one of the most secure prisons in the United States, as a "symbol of law, order, and justice."
Democratic leaders quickly dismissed the proposal as "not a serious one." Alcatraz, which was closed in 1963, currently serves as a popular tourist attraction.
"I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, along with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a significantly enlarged and renovated ALCATRAZ," Trump wrote.
The facility would be designed to "house the most dangerous and violent criminals in America."
Trump has been at odds with the judicial system over his strategy of deporting alleged gang members to a prison in El Salvador. In March, he sent over 200 suspected Venezuelan gang members there and has also suggested sending "homegrown criminals" to prisons abroad.
Originally built as a naval fort, Alcatraz was transformed into a military prison in the early 20th century. The Department of Justice took control in the 1930s, and it began accepting inmates from the federal prison system. Notable inmates included infamous gangsters like Al Capone, Mickey Cohen, and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.
The prison gained fame from the 1962 film Birdman of Alcatraz, featuring Burt Lancaster as Robert Stroud, a convicted murderer who became an expert ornithologist while serving his life sentence on the island.
It was also depicted in the 1996 action film The Rock, starring Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, which revolved around a rescue mission on the island.
Alcatraz was closed due to high operational costs, as noted by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, which stated it was nearly three times more expensive to run than other federal facilities, primarily because of its isolated location.
Transforming Alcatraz back into a functioning prison would require a substantial financial investment, according to Professor Gabriel Jack Chin from the Davis School of Law at the University of California. He pointed out that the federal prison system is currently operating at about 75% of its peak capacity, with many existing facilities having "a lot of empty beds." "Thus, it's unclear if a new prison is necessary," Chin remarked.
Alcatraz is known for its tough reputation, and Trump appears to be signaling that his administration will take a hard stance on crime, Chin added.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California whose district encompasses Alcatraz, criticized the proposal as "not a serious one," while Democratic state senator Scott Wiener from San Francisco labeled the idea "deeply unhinged" in an Instagram post, calling it "an attack on the rule of law."