Trump Orders Alcatraz Re-Opened, Expanded for Two Specific Types of Criminals

Cue the Hans Zimmer music, and get the AI Sean Connery voice clip ready: “Welcome back to The Rock!”

Yes, in a move that will probably make the CECOT hand-wringers go ballistic, President Donald Trump announced Sunday that, as part of his law-and-order agenda, he plans to “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!”

The infamous prison, located in San Francisco Bay, closed as a carceral facility in 1963, although for 29 years it was the most notorious federal penitentiary in America, home to our worst criminals.

Because of deteriorating conditions and high costs, it’s now a national park and tourist attraction. But, according to Trump, that might change soon.

“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,” Trump said in a post.

“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. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets.

“That is why, today, I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders,” he continued.

“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. The reopening of ALCATRAZ will serve as a symbol of Law, Order, and JUSTICE. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ! 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…

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 4, 2025

He went on to add a picture of the old Alcatraz, just so everyone remembered what it was like before it became a tourist spot — ironically, a place to get away from the effluence and used needles on San Francisco’s streets.

pic.twitter.com/Uu4axjcsta

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His (@TrumpDailyPosts) May 4, 2025

It’s worth noting that there are practical challenges to this, as the media highlighted; the Associated Press, claiming it was Trump’s “latest salvo in his effort to overhaul how and where federal prisoners and immigration detainees are locked up,” pointed to the fact that “such a move would likely be an expensive and challenging proposition.”

“Bringing the facility up to modern-day standards would require massive investments at a time when the Bureau of Prisons has been shuttering prisons for similar infrastructure issues,” the AP’s report read.

And CNN noted that Trump had said the reopening was “just an idea” he floated since “radicalized judges” are slow-walking the deportation process of illegal immigrants linked to dangerous gangs.

“I guess because so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for … every single person that’s in our country illegally,” Trump said, noting “that would mean millions of trials.”

Alcatraz, he added, was “a sad symbol, but it’s a symbol of law and order. And you know it’s got quite a history, frankly, so I think we’re going to do that.”

There’s your point. You don’t want CECOT? Fine: You get Alcatraz — CECOT before CECOT. And on American soil, too!

Therein lies the point of this all: The problem for the left isn’t with deporting violent Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gang members via El Salvador, the problem is deporting or detaining them, full stop.

To the extent that the left wants due process, the emphasis is on process — and a very long one at that, goddess-willing, ping-ponging through as many courts and jurisdictions as possible, preferably friendly ones with lots of Obama- and Biden-era judges.

And then a Democrat gets elected to the White House eventually, and we all forget this ever happened and — if we are to deal with the problem — we have to start at step one when a Republican gets back into office. Sowwy! Better luck next time.

Trump learned this lesson in his first go-around in office. Will Alcatraz be reopened? Well, it’d a big, beautiful island — and one which would be the final stop, hopefully, for America’s most violent offenders and problematic illegal immigrants.

It’s also a symbol of a country that means business. If it doesn’t get reopened, the point is that he’ll find another symbol to show that, yes, he means business and he’s not playing the delay-for-delay’s sake game again, no matter how much the left leans into it.

Welcome back to The Rock, indeed.

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