The White House is tabling the plan to reopen Alcatraz. How much would it cost to restore the famous prison where Trump wants to send “the most dangerous and violent criminals in America”
The White House on Friday asked for $152 million to bring the former prison on Alcatraz Island back into operation, thus resuming the call launched last year by President Donald Trump, Reuters notes.
The request is included in the White House's proposed budget proposal to fund the government in fiscal year 2027. Such funding requests are typically treated by lawmakers in Congress as mere proposals.
The budget proposal provides funds for the US Federal Penitentiary Administration to cover the first year's costs of rebuilding Alcatraz into a “state-of-the-art secure detention facility.”
The prison was closed in 1969 and is currently managed by the US National Park Service.
In May, Donald Trump announced on social media that he had asked the Federal Penitentiary Administration, the United States Department of Justice and other agencies to “reopen a substantially expanded and rebuilt Alcatraz to house America's most dangerous and violent criminals.”
Alcatraz, opened in 1934, was considered the most secure prison in the US due to its island location, very cold waters and strong currents.
No successful escape has been officially confirmed, although five inmates are listed as “missing and presumed drowned”.
Before its closure, notorious criminals such as Al Capone and James Whitey Bulger were imprisoned here.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' website, the prison was closed due to high operating costs, nearly three times more expensive than any other federal prison.
