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President Donald Trump is asking Congress to approve $152 million to begin reopening Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay as part of a broader effort to house violent federal offenders.
The funding request, included in the White House’s proposed fiscal 2027 budget, would go to the Federal Bureau of Prisons to cover initial costs tied to rebuilding the facility.
The president directed federal agencies last May to move forward with restoring the site, instructing the Bureau of Prisons, the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of 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. 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,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
Alcatraz Island, located in the middle of San Francisco Bay, operated as a military prison from 1850 to 1933 before being transferred to the Justice Department as a maximum-security federal penitentiary.
The prison closed in 1963 due to high operating costs. According to the Bureau of Prisons, “An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs – Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison.”
The island later reopened to the public in 1973 as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and has since become one of the West Coast’s most visited tourist destinations, drawing roughly 1.2 million visitors annually, according to the National Park Service.
The budget proposal also includes a broader $1.7 billion request to “secure America’s prisons” and upgrade federal detention facilities. Alcatraz once housed high-profile inmates such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud.
“For years, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has housed violent criminals in crumbling detention facilities,” the budget proposal states. “Building on a $5 billion investment secured in the President’s [Working Families Tax Credit], the Budget further invests in BOP to ensure competitive pay, safe working conditions, and an end to longstanding correctional officer shortages.”
