US President Donald Trump on Friday asked Congress for $152 million to rebuild the legendary Alcatraz prison. According to AFP, Trump is continuing his vision to reopen this prison, TASR writes. The funding request – included in the White House’s 2027 budget proposal – would cover the first step of rebuilding the site in California’s San Francisco Bay into what officials describe as a “state-of-the-art security prison facility.”
Trump announced last May that he had ordered the reopening of Alcatraz prison, saying it would house “America’s most dangerous and violent criminals” in the future. This proposal is part of the wider budget of the Ministry of Justice, which emphasizes investments in prisons and security forces. Such requests must be approved by Congress.
Portal Axios, referring to representatives of the US administration, said that any “supermax” (highest security) prison complex at the site would have to be built from the ground up, bringing the total cost to about two billion dollars.
The island with the Alcatraz prison is located only two kilometers from San Francisco. It was closed in 1963 due to high operating costs. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BoP), it was only in operation for 29 years. Currently, it is one of the most famous tourist attractions. The prison has a capacity of 336 prisoners. At the time of its operation, several well-known criminals were housed there, including mafia boss Al Capone. According to official data, no one managed to escape from Alcatraz.
