President Donald Trump announced he intends to reopen Alcatraz prison, located on a small island in San Francisco, on May 4. President Trump wants to rebuild the prison to hold “America’s most ruthless and violent offenders.”
According to President Trump, the motivation behind reopening the prison is to “serve as a symbol of Law, Order and JUSTICE.” President Trump started off with reopening the prison as an idea, then posted on X about it.
Alcatraz was a prison run by the Department of Justice in 1934 to 1963 as a federal prison before it shut down due to high maintenance costs. Costs were higher than a normal prison because it was more secure than a regular prison because it was surrounded by water and its security measures.
Guards would headcount prisoners 13 times a day to ensure no inmate has escaped. Costs would be higher when receiving anything, including food, because it had to be shipped in a boat. 36 inmates attempted to escape the prison, and 31 of them were unsuccessful. The other five were never found so it’s possible they have escaped, though it has never been confirmed. Ten years after the prison shut down, in 1973, Alcatraz opened to tourists.
A reporter from CBS interviewed Gavin Newsom, governor of California on his thoughts on Trump’s statements on Alcatraz.
Newsom said, “I mean I don’t know if he’s watching ‘The Rock’ or what inspired this.” Governor Newsom is opposed to the idea of reopening the prison.
He also said, “there’s 336 prisoners there. I mean, you can’t even come up with a more colossally bad fiscal idea. Nothing about this makes any sense.
Sophomore Ethan Moallemi didn’t expect Trump’s announcement but thinks it’s a good idea. Moallemi said, “I think that’s crazy. The big prisoners will finally be in a safer place than if they were in society. I don’t think the worst prisoners should be in a regular prison.” Having Alcatraz in operation would separate the violent prisoners from less threatening inmates.
Senior Aaron Elyasi didn’t expect Trump’s announcement. Elyasi said, “It caught me off guard. It came out of nowhere and he didn’t soft release his idea.”
He was surprised that a big decision was made so fast and came out of the blue.
Trump’s plan to reopen Alcatraz has many mixed opinions and requires many factors to be considered before taking more steps in reopening the prison.
