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President Trump said on Sunday that he wanted federal law enforcement agencies to work on restoring Alcatraz, now a museum, to a functioning maximum-security prison.<\/p>\n
Repeating one of his constant refrains that the United States had become a dangerous, lawless place, Mr. Trump wrote on social media that he wanted Alcatraz, an island in San Francisco Bay, to be enlarged and rebuilt \u201cto house America\u2019s most ruthless and violent offenders. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was not immediately clear how his musing could be put into action, given that any such project would be extraordinarily expensive and that the administration already planned to cut billions of dollars from the Justice Department budget.<\/p>\n
Mr. Trump said he had instructed the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department and the Homeland Security Department to work on his idea, along with the F.B.I. \u2014 a curious choice given that the bureau plays no role in incarcerating people convicted of crimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A reopened Alcatraz, Mr. Trump wrote, would \u201cserve as a symbol of law, order, and justice.\u201d The prison captured the public imagination as the home of the \u201cworst of the worst\u201d until it was closed in 1963 and eventually turned into a popular museum attraction.<\/p>\n
In addition to holding the gangster known as \u201cMachine Gun Kelly\u201d and Al Capone \u2014 whose multiple indictments Mr. Trump often mentioned on the campaign trail to describe himself as unfairly persecuted \u2014 Alcatraz is most famous for the escape of three men in 1962. They were never found, and it remains unclear whether they survived the swim from the island, which is more than a mile from shore in cold water with strong currents. Today, Alcatraz is best known as a damp, frigid and nostalgic staple of tourist packages and children\u2019s field trips.<\/p>\n
By comparison, the current federal super-maximum security prison in Florence, Colo., has never had an inmate escape.<\/p>\n
In California, Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator representing San Francisco, called Mr. Trump\u2019s idea \u201cabsurd on its face\u201d and the latest example of what he called the president\u2019s \u201ccontinuing unhinged behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Gov. Gavin Newsom laughed when asked about the president\u2019s order. \u201cLooks like it\u2019s Distraction Day again in Washington, D.C.,\u201d Izzy Gardon, the governor\u2019s director of communications, said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mr. Gardon pointed out that it had been more than six decades since Alcatraz operated as a prison, and that turning it back into a facility to house inmates would take many years and significant federal investment at a time when the president has said he wants to slash spending.<\/p>\n
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n