Trump's Plans to Reopen Alcatraz

Recently, President Donald Trump has announced that he is planning on reopening and expanding the former prison, “Alcatraz”. This announcement happened on May 4, 2025, by the Department of Justice, and Homeland Security.

President Trump sees this action as, “Law and Order, and Justice” hoping to aim towards a less dangerous country, by having complete isolation from the most dangerous criminals.  Trump has also criticized judges who prevented his immigration laws and policies, saying that reopening Alcatraz can be a possible solution.

However, with this whole thing that Trump wants to do, there is going to be its downsides to it.  Alcatraz as of right now is a major popular tourist attraction that is managed by the NPS (National Park Service). Not only that but there is almost no running water, making it impossible to live there. Studies have shown that if Trump wants to rebuild and reconstruct Alcatraz in order for it to be fully functional, it would total up to almost half a billion dollars. 

Some political figures like Nancy Pelosi and Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, believe that this would be more of a distraction rather than a useful place. They would think that it would divert attention from other political issues going on in the world. 

Whereas the ones who support this action believe that this could serve as a deterrent, which will show a more challenging stance amongst crime, making criminals think that systems are becoming more strict.  

As of right now, President Donald Trump has the idea of possibly making this happen.  Nothing has been confirmed yet. There are multiple opinions of this action, some people like it and some people don’t. If this does happen, it will be a very huge change in our criminal justice system.

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