Trump Officials Plan Alcatraz Prison Reopening Amid Legal, Cost Concerns

President Donald Trump has announced plans to reopen Alcatraz Island as a federal prison, aiming to transform the former high-security facility into a symbol of law and order housing violent offenders. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum visited the island to announce the initiative, which involves potentially removing environmental protections and National Park Service control to facilitate the reopening. The plan has faced sharp criticism from Democrats, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who called it the administration's 'stupidest initiative yet' and pledged to use all parliamentary means to oppose it. Critics also highlight the significant costs of refurbishing Alcatraz, which could exceed a quarter of a billion dollars, and question the feasibility given existing legal protections and the prison's historical closure due to high operating expenses. The reopening is aligned with Trump's tough-on-crime policies and may provide a workaround to court rulings limiting his efforts to detain certain offenders elsewhere. The controversy surrounding Bondi's involvement is compounded by ongoing scrutiny over the Justice Department's handling of Jeffrey Epstein files.